GWB's War: Safer Than A Democrat CinC

Don't believe me. The numbers tell the story:

1980 .......... 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 .......... 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1984 .......... 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1988 .......... 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 .......... 1,636 (George HW Year)
1990 ......... 1,508 (George HW Year)
1991 .......... 1,787 (George HW Year)
1992 .......... 1,293 (George HW Year)
1993 .......... 1,213 (Clinton Year)
1994 .......... 1,075 (Clinton Year)
1995 .......... 2,465 (Clinton Year)
1996 .......... 2,318 (Clinton Year) Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,000 deaths
1997 ............. 817 (Clinton Year)
1998 .......... 2,252 (Clinton Year)
1999 .......... 1,984 (Clinton Year)
2000 .......... 1,983 (Clinton Year)
2001 ............ 890 (George W Year)
2002 .......... 1,007 (George W Year)
2003 .......... 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 .......... 1,887 (George W Year) George W years (2001-2006): 7,033 deaths
2005 ............. 919 (George W Year)
2006.............. 920 (George W Year)

The numbers are from a report by the Congressional Research Service.

Now, since the number of dead members of America's armed services aren't and can't really be the basis for the far Left complaints --- clearly, fewer Americans are dying in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq than died on base in the United States, or on the Clinton Administration's "peacekeeping" operations --- what can it be that bothers them so?

Might it be a military which is actually pursuing American interests abroad?

H/T to RightsideVA. RightsideVA has it right, too: Don't expect these facts to be reported in the so-called "mainstream" media.

Mass Slaying Justifies Strong Legislative Response

Apparently, there has been another mass killing, this one in Alaska. Four people are dead, allegedly murdered by a recently-released, 18-year-old domestic assault suspect.

This is the straw that breaks the camel's back for me.

There is simply no justification for allowing these instruments of death in the hands of young adults. Government control is absolutely called for. If only these weapons had been secured, four lives might not have been tragically ended in a spree of mass killing.

The Second Amendment be damned; it's time for gun contr....

Oops! Wait a minute! Turns out that the killer used a knife.

Never mind.

None Of Our "Business"!?!?

Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton, campaigning as a surrogate on behalf of her mother in Indianapolis, was apparently asked yesterday whether her mother's "credibility" was hurt by her behavior in the Monica Lewinsky imbroglio. Her response?

"... I don't think that's any of your business."

Huh!?!?! A potential President's credibility none of our business?!??!

Among the many idiocies in the so-called "main-stream" media's coverage of the Clinton's, this one is certainly notable. This is a 27-year-old woman working for her mother. This is no longer a teenager being protected from a voracious media in the fishbowl which is the White House. For God's sake, this woman is old enough to run for Congress!

Yet the so-called "main-stream" media is applauding her!

But there's no media bias. Never mind. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Paul Nichols --- Your Union-Label Delegate

Just managed to notice this: the RINO's favorite candidate, Delegate Paul Nichols (D-51st) voted in favor of Delegate Adam Ebbin's (D-Lavender) bill to repeal Virginia's ban on public employee monopoly bargaining. Ironically, it would have repealed a law sponsored by former Delegate David Brickley (D-51st), Nichols' predecessor in the district. Though Brickley is a Democrat, and was at one time a union lawyer (for the PWEA, the National Education Association's County affiliate), even he was not enough of a moonbat to hold that government employees should be given privileged status in the allocation of scarce public resources.

Interesting. Even the obvious costs of creating a special agency to manage resulting contracts predicted that the bill would put a $7 million hole in the budget through 2014. And that's to say nothing of the possibility that government would grow, cost more, and the possibility of government-employee strikes (whether legal or not, they happen under such regimes). Very sensible in a time of tight budgets and transportation-spending deficiencies.

The Virginia GOP Caucus blog identifies it as the single worst bill for business in the Commonwealth. I wouldn't dispute that characterization.

You can thank the spoiled brats who didn't get their way in nominating Julie Lucas as the GOP nominee in the district, and/or the Gill-haters --- i.e., those who opposed the GOP victor, Faisal Gill --- for this lunacy. Apparently, for these children, smears are more important that policy.

And Nichols certainly can't plead ignorance about the effects of this bill. I had a detailed discussion with him about it well before the election.

I suppose Nichols can be credited with dancing with the ones who brung him. Or more likely, for hearing his master's voice.

Absurdity of the Day

From PeterFeddo.com:

"The Clinton's [sic] are very forgiving and gracious people...."

BA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah. Ask Linda Tripp. Or Kathleen Willey. Or Juanita Broadderick. Etc.

Note: As one might expect, Feddo does not allow comments from other than those who register. I know I moderate, but I have yet to reject a comment since beginning that practice. It seems many of our moonbat friends fear confrontation with the facts.

Hilarious

Sent to me by one of my in-laws. Don't know if it's true, but it's hilarious, nonetheless:

The following is the 2007 winning entry from an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term.

This year's term: Political Correctness.

Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

RFLMAO.

Arthur C. Clarke, RIP

My wife returned home from work today and informed me that she had heard that Arthur C. Clarke, one of our favorite authors, had died at age 90. His New York Times obituary is here. There are multiple copies of some of his books around our house, as we are both fans.

Though I never met the man --- having never traveled to Sri Lanka, where he had lived since before I was born --- I feel as though I have lost an old and trusted friend.

The word "visionary" is probably overused. It seems an understatement when applied to Clarke. He was a good writer with incredible foresight, two requirements for a great science fiction writer. It is a combination too rare in the genre. He conceptualized communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit in a 1945 paper, but failed to patent the idea.

Nevertheless, it is a measure of the esteem in which he was held that some of the things he imagined (a space elevator, for instance) are staples in other writers' works. It is difficult to believe --- as the NYT obituary stated --- that his worldwide sales were only around $25 million. His contributions to science, culture, and the intersection of science and culture may well be several orders of magnitude greater than that number.

Indeed, though his name has, for some time, been associated with giants like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, it may well be that he will be remembered as the greatest among these giants. No small feat when one considers that Isaac Asimov was a contemporary.

RIP.

Marching Idiots

From the home area, word of a "protest" informed by idiocy.

"Bush lied"? About what? These are the morons who confuse error (about WMDs, a world-wide intelligence consensus, BTW), with prevarication. 'Course, they're probably the same people who were defending Clinton's serial prevarications. These people would have been right at home with the John Birchers, who insisted on confusing policy differences with perfidy and conspiracy.

Then there's "War is Not an Answer." Funny, but it was a really good answer to slavery, fascism, genocide, and totalitarianism.

But never mind historical facts.

UPDATE: Another thought occurs to me: Those who drive around with a "War is Not the Answer" bumpersticker on their vehicles demonstrate conclusively that they don't even know what the question is.

Interesting Priorities

I wonder how many health insurance policies for poor children could have been voluntarily paid for in lieu of this display of conspicuous consumption?

I love it when Dems demonstrate their hypocrisy.

Aren't these the same people who complaing about so-called "chickenhawks"?

Brought To You By A Democrat Congress

So the Democrats have controlled Congress for more than a year, and what have they accomplished?

• A barrel of oil? Price almost doubled
• Job growth? Cut in half
  
• Home ownership? Dropped for the first time in years (it grew for 6 years under unified Republican rule)
• Average family grocery bill? Increased about $70 per month
• Stock market? Lost about 10% of its value
• Home values? Fallen roughly 8%
• Inflation? Up, now to over 4%
• Consumer confidence? In the tank
• Most people think we are heading into a recession

Will the so-called "mainstream" media blame the Democrats?

Of course not. It's all George W. Bush's fault.

H/T to Charles at TwoConservatives.

Interesting Day

Completely by chance, had occasion today to enjoy fine, imported, hand-rolled tobacco products with the former Mayor of New York City. An intimate little group, it included this Conservative Republican, a couple of moderate Republicans, and even a Democrat or two. It was one of those happenstances that was completely unplanned, and therefore, was very casual and interesting. Just a bunch of guys sitting around a coffee table, enjoying espressos, smoking cigars, and chewing the fat. It's almost impossible to exchange cross words over cigars, and this little tete-a-tete was no exception.

Nice, accessible guy. Our disagreements on some issues to the contrary notwithstanding, I find myself sincerely hoping that his service to the Nation is not yet complete.

Ferraro Quits Clinton Campaign

Former Democrat nominee for Vice President Geraldine Ferraro has quit the Clinton campaign.

It appears that she's caused quite a furor with her remark about Democrat front-runner Barack Obama:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

Wow. Quite an indictment. Let's get back in the Wayback Machine, set it for 1984, and play with the first sentence of that quotation a little:

If [Ferraro] was a white man, [s]he would not be in this position.

After all, she was tapped as Walter Mondale's running mate after only three terms in Congress.

I guess Ms. Ferraro knows from whence she speaks when she talks about the elevation of unqualified candidates by Democrats to play at affirmative-action, identity politics.

Of course, if either Hitlary Clinton or Barack Obama were a white man, neither one would be in the position they're in. Seven years in the Senate, and before that, the wife of a powerful politician? Three years in the Senate?

On an objective basis, neither one of them is qualified to be President of the United States (in facd, the only Democrat who ran who was objectively qualified was Bill Richardson; his campaign never got off the ground).

Senator Chuck Colgan: PLINO?

That's "Pro-Life in Name Only."

You'll recall that state Senator Chuck Colgan has been conning the Conservative voters of his district ... well, for literally decades. He prevailed over Dave Mabie in 2003, and over a very strong challenge by Bob FitzSimmonds in 2007. You see, 'round about election time, Chuck has successfully beat back Republican challenges by claiming to his constituency that he is pro-life.

Of course, to an ever-increasingly moonbat Democrat constituency, this is apostacy. State Democrats even went so far in the last election to send out the typical Democrat scare literature, directed at women, suggesting that Senator Chuck's vote was necessary to preserve a woman's "right" to choose to kill her unborn child.

Recognizing that this might strip away the last vestige of respectability on this issue that he possessed --- by voting with Democrats in the organizational vote, Colgan actually voted to insure that no meaningful pro-life legislative initiative could move forward --- Colgan immediately and publicly disavowed the Democrat Party mailer. Thereafter, he squeaked by a very strong challenge from Republican Bob FitzSimmonds.

I guess we shall see. His Republican opponent, Bob FitzSimmonds, just sent me this e-mail:

Working with the Republican caucus, Senator Ken Cuccinelli was able to get the Senate to vote to ban Planned Parenthood funding from the state budget. While this is fairly normal language for the House version of the budget, the Senate conferees have always stripped it out of the final state budget. This is the first time the Senate has ever voted this way, so we have a historic opportunity to stop funding this organization at state expense.

I was privileged to work with Ken as his Legislative Director during session and it was an amazing experience to see the Democrats come undone over this amendment. Nearly a whole day was devoted to Democrat attempts to side step Ken’s amendment. Ultimately they failed and the proposal passed with the support of one Democrat, Chuck Colgan. Amazingly, the biggest impediment to final passage of this language is now this same Democrat, Chuck Colgan. While Senator Colgan is pro-life this stipulation has never seemed to be a priority for him and in spite of his presence on the budget conference committees, this language has been stripped out year after year.

Immediately after voting for the ban, Senator Colgan appointed another pro-choice legislator to the conference committee. The only explanation for this is to bolster liberals on the conference committee. The outcome will almost certainly be that this restriction will die, while Senator Colgan can continue to claim that he voted right. Senator Colgan, as the chairman of the powerful Senate Finance committee, has tremendous influence in this process and can insist that this language stay in the budget.

It is really important Senator Colgan hear from folks about this. The vote on the budget may take place as early as Thursday. So please call Senator Colgan’s office at 703-368-0300 or email his office at district29@sov.state.va.us and ask him to vote against funding Planned Parenthood.

So, is Democrat Chuck Colgan really pro-life, or is it merely campaign rhetoric by which he cons the voters of his district? Is he now working against the very pro-life legislation for which --- to his pro-life voters --- he will attempt to claim credit?

We shall see.

Eliot Spitzer And The Politics Of Sin

With the deliciously-scandalous news of New York's Freudian (i.e., everybody does everything to get more sex) Governor, comes word that the randy chief executive is attempting to negotiate a plea deal. Apparently, he doesn't want to resign his office unless guaranteed that he won't be prosecuted for his crimes.

Hmmmm. Perhaps. But if the interests of justice are truly to be served, one might be inclined to demand a gubernatorial pardon for each and every madam, prostitute, and john prosecuted by Spitzer during his tenure in his various offices.

Anyone sitting in prison or with a criminal record because of Spitzer's actions seems to me to be entitled to demand it as a matter of simple justice.

What A Little Strange Will Get You....

It seems that New York's Democrat Governor Eliot Spitzer is in trouble for paying for a little strange.

You would think that someone in his position would be somewhat more discrete.

Wow!

Shocking

In the wake of news that the top ten administrators in the Prince William County government schools are in line for a cumulative raise of nearly $100,000 comes complaints from Occoquan District School Board member Grant Lattin that more than $10,000 in per pupil expenditures is not enough. It was an Op-Ed in today's Potomac News, but a link on line is not available at this writing.

Aside from the fact that per pupil expenditures in this County have now exceeded the cost for tuition, room, and board at my pricey private college during my years of attendance there (1982-86), it is worth noting that this cost exceeds the cost of my sons' private Christian school for both of them, and could pay for about 75% of the tuition for another student.

Explain to me again why vouchers don't make both economic and educational sense?

A Few Centuries Late

As a Christian in the Lutheran tradition, this is certainly an interesting development.

It's nice, however, to see that our Catholic brother and sisters have finally come around.

H/T to Reason and Revelation.

He Gets A Pass On This One

Driving in today, I heard on WMAL that Governor Timmy! vetoed two bills which would have expanded Virginia's death penalty to include those who plan premeditated murders.

I support these bills. I support (with appropriate procedural protections) the death penalty generally, and its expansion particularly. I would expand it to include those who serially molest children, among the vilest of crimes, and serial, violent rapists.

However, I can't bring myself to criticize the eminently critiquable Governor Timmy! on this one. He's a devout Catholic, and has long opposed the death penalty. It was an issue in his campaign for Governor. Virginians knew what they would get when they unwisely chose to elect him. And while I expect him, as Governor, to carry out the death penalty when it is imposed --- my recollection is that he has --- he is certainly within whatever "mandate" he has to exercise his authority as Governor to oppose its expansion.

So you won't read a word of criticism here over his decision to veto bills like this.

It remains to be seen whether the Virginia legislature will override his veto.

yippee

Fox News calls the GOP nomination race for John McCain.

Outrageous

Today's Pot. News carries a page-one, above-the-fold story on how the top ten administrators in the Prince William County government schools can look forward to an across-the-board pay raise of 6%.

For a limited payroll which already tops $1.6 million dollars, this translates into a cost to taxpayers of nearly $100,000.

Huh?

Let's see. Assessments are dropping, and with it, County income in tax revenue at the current tax rate. County Executive Craig Gerhart has proposed a budget which would raise the tax rate to over $1 per $100 of assessed value, and would result in a tax increase to the average homeowner an additional $258 per year in County property tax payments. By some measures --- I don't necessarily buy into these predictions --- the economy is slowing.

Yet County Superintendent Steven L. Walts is going to get a pay raise of more than $14,000? And his top deputies are in for pay raises of nearly $10,000 apiece? Oh, and by the way, government-schools administrators are getting nice, shiny new offices (to the tune of nearly $40 million), slated to open in September.

Enough is enough.

What is really disturbing is the fact that people like Gainesville School Board member Don Richardson, who ran with the GOP endorsement, is making excuses for these exorbitant salary increases. How many County taxpayers got a 6% pay raise this year? What percentage have seen their net worth drop with declining home values?

Government employment should reflect the economy, and County revenues, as a whole. The notion that the County's top government-schools administrators are asking for, and may well get, such huge increases in times like these should outrage everyone who foots the bill.

That would be every taxpayer in Prince William County.

Changing The Subject

I guess Dems who like Barack Obama would prefer to talk about this than talk about his endorsement by notorious anti-Semite "Calypso Louie," aka Louis Farrakhan.