Silly Democrats, tricks are for kids! Last Friday I was a bit upset by our friends in the print media. Led by the nose, papers like the WaPo parroted the NYTimes ‘pimp my book pre-sales’ account of how George Bush was tapping your 79-year-old grandmum’s phone line. As if making her wait long periods in uncomfortable positions at all hours in the AM at the security check at the airport isn’t enough … but I digress.
What upset me was that instead of being proud of the U.S.’ contribution to a significant and long-lasting geopolitical event – namely the successful parliamentary elections in Iraq – the party out of power took a cheap shot at my country’s international prestige by making something necessarily covert sound illegal. Add to this insult that neither the NYTimes nor WaPo would put an effort into uncovering the person who disclosed these secret details with the same fervor as they’ve covered PlameGate … but I digress.
The point is, despite their best efforts, the old media was minimally successful in steering the public’s attention away from the Bush administration’s successes (on behalf of the U.S.). What they should realized that if they really wanted to refocus the news cycle by stomping some poor Texan into the turf, they really need only focus their energies and finances into Joe Gibbs – whose Iraq-election like victory over “America’s Team” is all the buzz in our (my) Nation’s Capital.
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Snarkasm – ’snär-"ka-z&m – noun – a disdainful and often cheap shot designed at pointing out painfully obvious and/or stupid stuff.
Today’s target, some headlines and/or bylines in the Washington Post that in my humble opinion, could use some improvement, disclaimers and/or clarifications:
- DeLay’s Felony Charge Is Upheld – I love this. All over the news list night, the general story was ‘some charges dropped.’ But the WaPo, wanting to be more and more like the NYTimes each day, has to accentuate the negative. File under the category of ‘never headline a nice thing about a republican.’
- Looks like ‘objective’ opinion writer Richard Cohen has received the latest talking points from ‘Chucky’ Schumer, et.al. in the rant ‘Let Rumsfeld Go.’ Apparently this meme has been recycled – with consequences that might make lefties think 2x.
- E. J. Dionne Jr. seems to think there IS an abortion litmus test as he accuses conservatives of ‘Dodging Debate On Alito.’ Or what I’d like to byline as ‘please help those of us on the left move this fight to terms favorable to us.‘
- Three times being the charm, the WaPo accuses Condi of offering ‘A Weak Defense‘ as she tried to assuage countries capable of containing their terrorism, like France, that the U.S. does not authorize or condone torture of detainees. This is because she didn’t qualify her definition of torture to include a number of psyop techniques. Perhaps we should coddle the terrorists like say Tookie? Hmmm… better yet, perhaps next time Dr.Rice can lead off with "the U.S. does not authorize or condone the cruel beheading of captives."
- Filed under the category of ‘international espionage is a dirty game,’ it looks like the Italians are mad because a ‘CIA Ruse Is Said to Have Damaged Probe in Milan‘ – anyone who’s watched at least one James Bond movie knows that getting info out of bad buys is a messy business where often the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. What amuses me most about this post is that in setting up the human rights argument against the U.S., the writer unintentionally paints a picture of some internal Italian infighting by some miffed that they’re not as deep in Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s inner circle as they once thought.
- ‘U.S. Is Given Failing Grades By 9/11 Panel‘ – apparently the panel also issued two "incompletes" in categories including airline passenger screening and improving first responders’ communication system. I suspect this will remain so long as we continue to pull 70 year old women out of line for screenings and place the entire weight of local contingency planning on the White House.
As always, your mileage will vary. Feel free to add your own contributions.
Frustrated by the complete ‘The Vietnamization of Iraq‘ and inspired by the "George Santayana" ignorance of the Democratic response to Bush’s speech today, yours truly took it upon himself to conjure up the parody book cover below and to the left.
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Annapolis, MD – Speaking to an audience of students and faculty at the U.S. Naval Academy, George Bush re-emphasized that we are engaged in a war with a fanatical death cult who would interpret a cut-n-run policy as an invitation to bring their brand of politicizing to the U.S. With historical precedent on his side, the Command in Chief outlined a three part strategy for a successful conclusion to our presence in Iraq that included:
- a political component in which coalition forces would help Iraq build a free and democratic society;
- a security piece in which coalition troops would train Iraqi security forces well enough to guard their new found freedoms; and
- an economic element, a free market economy which will reward productivity while offering individuals a sense of personal destiny.
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Frustrated by the lack of a Bush apology, Senator John F. Kerry went on the offensive to effect a semantic change to Murtha’s call for an immediate redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq by replacing the phrase "deadline for withdrawal" with "timetable for success."
In a sound bite reminiscent of Richard Nixon’s "Peace with Honor" speech, Senator Hillary Clinton took Mr. Kerry’s word-games one step further when she demanded the President "present us with a plan for finishing this war with success and honor."
Ignoring the advice of fellow Democrat Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi suggested the American people prefer we follow John Murtha’s call to remove U.S. Troops at "earliest possible date."
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You can see the big huge honking version of it over at blogs4God. Enjoy ‘liberally,’ just avoid hot-linking the image and if possible a link back would be polite.
…George Bush emerged from the 2004 presidential election victoriously. I’ve been giving him a hard time lately, but between him and John Kerry, I still think the better man won.
When I’d gone to bed in the early morning hours of November 2, 2004, I was very excited. At the time I was still at the day job, a non-profit organization heavily stocked with liberals. On the Metro that morning, it was as though someone had died. At work, it was worse: as though two people had died. I didn’t gloat or even mention the election, but I don’t think I would’ve been extended the same courtesy had John Kerry won.
Nine percent of voting D.C. residents voted for Bush, but I didn’t see any that day, judging from the faces of people on the street. I didn’t see one smile the whole day other than the one I saw in the mirror when I powdered my nose. 
George Bush can’t be all men to all people. He’s only one man, doing what he thinks is best, I suppose. I hate his amnesty-for-illegal-aliens plan, but I’m glad he’s in the White House screwing up instead of John Kerry.
(AFB photo)
Round-up: Blogs for Bush, Generation Why?, Sister Toldjah, Randy Thomas, Brainster’s Blog…
Related posts:
Garloward
Well Mr. Bush, that’s a lot more than white liberals or the professional civil rights industry, including all members of the Congressional Black Caucus and black so-called leaders, will ever say for the damage they’ve caused by pushing 40+ years of bloated and failed social programs, lowered standards, and fear-of-being-called-racist hysteria.
The government has created a dependent class of people who’ve likely never had the desire or the will to help themselves. Liberals are dependent on this same class of people for votes, photo ops, and pandering editorials disguised as news.
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The first black woman and the second woman to occupy such a high position in a president’s cabinet, Condoleezza Rice deserves praise for remaining dignified and calm in the face of blatantly racist, envious and old-haggish attacks on her character and intelligence. She’s a better woman than I.
I could use some serious counseling on how to control my temper in case my integrity is ever questioned by the likes of Ted “water torture” Kennedy or John “war hero” Kerry. And if I weren’t a Christian woman, the things I would say to Barbara Boxer…
I know you were expecting me to blog about Rice’s confirmation hearing, but I didn’t have the stomach for it. I wanted to wait until the inevitable conclusion to say that I am proud to “know” Condoleezza Rice. She’s given her life to the pursuit of serious study and government service, is unappreciated by white liberals who resent her accomplishments and independent thinking, and black liberals whose accusations of “race traitor” betray their poor reasoning ability and infantile envy toward a woman they should be proud of, regardless of her political ideology. But I’m sure it doesn’t keep her up at night.
The final Senate vote was 85-13. Voting against Rice were James “Independent” Jeffords, Barbara Boxer, Daniel Akaka, Dick Durbin, Evan Bayh, Tom Harkin, Ted “water torture” Kennedy, John “war hero” Kerry, Carl Levin, Mark Dayton, Frank Lautenberg, Jack Reed, James Jeffords and former Ku Klux Klansman, Robert Byrd.
That’s all I have to say about Rice’s confirmation. I suspect that she and I would disagree on a few things, but I’ll save those for another post. She is in my prayers, and because I am a Christian, so are the people who loathe her.
Related post: Condi Rice and the Squad of Liberal Losers
Unrelated: Nominations for the Evangelical Blog Awards are rolling in. Don’t forget to nominate your favorite blogs. I’ll post my nominations next week.
The Anchoress goes off. Also see Wizbang.
Today is a good day to be a conservative in D.C. (Photo by AFP)
Not only do I have the day off, I get to spend it watching inauguration coverage on TV and online, smiling and very glad that it won’t be John Kerry up on that podium taking the oath of office. While Democrats have fled to parts unknown this week, conservative Washingtonians can take comfort in knowing their (our) measly 9 percent Bush vote counts in a big way today.
Imagine how you’d feel right now if John Kerry had won. Yeah, me too. Unbearably gloomy.
This post will be updated throughout the day with links from around the web. By the way, I’m a contributor to GOPbloggers. Check out the new blog.
See Washington Post (reg. req.), Yahoo! and Washington Times inauguration coverage.
Bloggers: Power Line, Polipundit…
9:23 a.m.: This is so cool. I just looked out the window and saw a large group of protestors walking by carrying signs. According to a weather report, it feels like 24 degrees out there and the wind is kicking at 15-20 mph. I hope they’re wearing thermal underwear.
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Associated Press:
The recount shows Bush winning Ohio by 118,457 votes over John Kerry. according to unofficial results provided to The Associated Press by the 88 counties. Lucas County, home to Toledo, was the last to finish counting.
The state had earlier declared Bush the winner by 118,775 votes and plans to adjust its totals to reflect the recount later this week.
The Kerry campaign supported the recount, but said it did not expect the tally to change the election winner. Supporters of the recount, requested by two minor party candidates, said they wanted to make sure every valid vote was counted.
You think Jesse Jackson will pipe down now? Speaking of pipes, it’s the stuff in which liberals’ dreams are made.
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Links and sources:
— Blogs for Bush
— Washington Post: “Recount in Ohio Narrows Bush’s Victory Margin” — VICTORY being the operative word, in case you’re wondering. Journalists.
— New York Times: “Ohio Recount Gives a Smaller Margin to Bush_ — Notice that President Bush’s name is in the headline, not the defeated John Kerry’s.
Unrelated links: Liberal columnist is player-hating on the Power Line bloggers. And he didn’t even link to their blog in his column. Jealousy is so unbecoming. Instapundit has a round-up of readers responding to the liberal columnists’ whatchacallit envy, the same kind he’s accusing the Power Line bloggers of having.
More from Power Line. Captain Ed weighs in, as does Pejmanesque. Thomas Lifson has a column up about it already.
Mark Noonan on the failures of liberalism.
Discriminations: “If you do the math, you will find that the effect of subtracting 318 votes from Bush’s total “narrows” his winning percentage from 51.06% to 51.05%….Some narrowing.”
Update (6:30 p.m.): Condoleezza Rice is the new Secretary of State. Does she really want to do this? Congratulations, Ms. Rice!
You may be interested in All Condi All The Time and Open Letter To A Liberal Columnist.
Update II (11/16): Waking up to an Instalanche is a good thing.
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George Bush is cleaning house. With four years left to make an impact, he needs to seize upon every remaining minute. I hope he implements true and consistent conservative policies and appoints true conservatives. Those who will be packing (not to say they aren’t “true conservatives” — except for Powell, maybe):
— Attorney General John Ashcroft
— Secretary of State Colin Powell
— Secretary of Education Rod Paige
— Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
— Secretary of Commerce Don Evans
— Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman
After we get the new people set, let’s get on with things. I’ll rerun my list of priorities:
— Privatizing social security
— Putting pro-life judges on the bench
— Banning homosexual “marriage”
— Banning race preferences in public (government) hiring and college admissions
— Tightening the southern border and enforcing immigration law
— Balancing the budget
— Lowering taxes even more and cutting spending on wasteful programs
— Protecting the free speech rights of all Americans, including Americans who profess Christ
— Getting more aggressive in Iraq, finishing this war and bringing our troops home
This is the kind of good, positive reporting we need:
Suddenly, the West Wing is buzzing with a new sense of possibility. Reports on the assault in Fallujah (story, Page 16) have been cautiously positive. The president’s first call to Harry Reid, the new Senate Democratic leader, raised hopes that he might get more cooperation from his congressional adversaries. And the death of Yasser Arafat may provide a “new opportunity” for Middle East peace, Bush said late last week in a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The president is moving briskly to seize the moment. He is consolidating power at the White House, channeling ever more influence to Vice President Dick Cheney, his closest confidant, and counselor Karl Rove, architect of his November 2 victory. Senior White House officials tell U.S. News that Bush plans to replace at least half his cabinet over the next few months. His aim is to remove officials who have become lightning rods for controversy or who seem to have lost their desire to serve in Washington.
Good for you, Mr. Bush. Carpe diem!
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*La Shawn exhales…* 
From My Way News:
President Bush won a second term from a divided and anxious nation, his promise of steady, strong wartime leadership trumping John Kerry’s fresh-start approach to Iraq and joblessness. After a long, tense night of vote counting, the Democrat called Bush Wednesday to concede Ohio and the presidency, The Associated Press learned.
Kerry ended his quest, concluding one of the most expensive and bitterly contested races on record, with a call to the president shortly after 11 a.m. EST, according to two officials familiar with the conversation.
The victory gave Bush four more years to pursue the war on terror and a conservative, tax-cutting agenda – and probably the opportunity to name one or more justices to an aging Supreme Court.
He also will preside over expanded Republican majorities in Congress.
“Congratulations, Mr. President,” Kerry said in the conversation described by sources as lasting less than five minutes. One of the sources was Republican, the other a Democrat.
I stand corrected. John Kerry accepted defeat like a man. Now let’s get down to business. There is still much work to do for America.
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Update IV: Instapundit says Kerry to concede, according to CNN and the AP. And Reuters:
Democratic challenger John Kerry called President Bush on Wednesday to concede the election, an aide said.
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Come on, troops! You didn’t think John Kerry would take defeat like a man, did you? George Bush is the winner, but we’re not supposed to say so until all the Ohio votes are counted. Shhhhhhh.
Given the way Kerry’s conducted himself during the whole campaign, this is to be expected. He’s an elitist used to getting what he wants. The White House is not within his grasp, but he’s still reaching. Human nature, I suppose.
In that regard, I offer you this somewhat subdued post. No victory dances until Kerry understands that he was decisively defeated last night. While it is highly improbable all the provisional Ohio votes will go for Kerry (as most reasonable people would agree), he’s holding on to a last shred of hope, though dignity left the building a long time ago. Ironically, those votes will probably increase Bush’s lead in the state.
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2:43 p.m. — I’m on my way to the polls. I will try to update this post as often as I can. In the meantime, keep everyone up to date with the latest information on the returns.
May they be happy returns! 
3:32 p.m. — Well, that was spectacularly uneventful. No line. I was in and out in five minutes. At my polling place this morning, the line was wrapped around the building. This afternoon, the closer I got to the building, the fewer people I saw! I guess I’ll go run a few errands while it’s still daylight. By the way, I voted for George Bush. See you in a bit…
3:58 p.m. — Not gone yet. I’m trying to confirm a rumor that Kerry “won” Florida. Mystery Pollster has the run down on exit polls. Blackfive’s been disenfranshised.
4:47 p.m. — Here’s some good news (predictions) from John Fund of the Wall Street Journal:
Popular vote: Bush 50.0%, Kerry 48.5%, Nader 1.0%, others 0.5%.
Electoral vote: Bush 296, Kerry 242.
Battleground states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin for Bush; Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania for Kerry.
The polls are pretty consistent. Mr. Bush is at 48% or above in all of them that push leaners.
A commenter asks: “Why don’t you & more Christians support the Constitution Party (which has a Christian Platform) instead of the Republican Party?”
Good question. I’ve flirted with the idea.
5:04 p.m. — The news is a little slow right now (and so are Internet connections), but bloggers seem to be affecting Wall Street.
5:52 p.m. — I think I started live-blogging too early. Things are sloooow. Joe Carter asks, “What if John Kerry wins?”
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Up to 125 million Americans will cast votes to choose the leader of the United States for the next four years and set the country’s course on the Iraq (news – web sites) war, the fight against terrorism, the economy and foreign relations.
Polls show the race is extraordinarily close, with a flurry of surveys showing a dead heat nationally and contradictory polls indicating most of the 10 hardest fought battleground states could tip either way.
Bush and Kerry spent their final day on the campaign trail on Monday racing back and forth through a handful of crucial swing states in a last-ditch hunt for votes, as both men try to stitch together the 270 electoral votes needed to claim victory.
Tell us about your experience at the polls today. Did you witness voter fraud or was it uneventful? Long lines or empty buildings?
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Why Blacks Should Give Bush a Chance, from the Spring 2001 City Journal:
Not since the Johnson administration has there been more concrete movement to free African-Americans from their status as the country’s problem race — and the lessons we’ve learned from LBJ’s failures mean that this administration will avoid the pitfalls of the War on Poverty’s hand-out philosophy. Who would have thought that a Republican administration would give such promise of reaching the long-sought goal of turning things around for black America?
Predictably, leftist black pundits who claim to represent the black view in America won’t grasp the import of this moment. Brent Staples of the New York Times informs us that “black Americans’ distrust of this administration is running extraordinarily high.” Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, histrionically comparing the irregularities in the Florida vote count to the evils of Selma, urge black Americans to refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Bush administration. Yet these are calls to distrust and resist a golden opportunity for black America….
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