Forgive this shameless rant: 
 
Democrats are pathetic. Yes, I am collectively calling them as such because their behavior has warranted it. At least those Congress members who refused to stand as our President made the call and hope for victory in the State of the Union. As one Republic strategist termed it: media whores…AKA: They suck up for their photo op and in the name of the video camera and immediately start bashing President Bush the second they step out of the room. I’m tired of these people screaming that they support the troops. They are completely offended by any overt assumption that that is not the case, yet, is “to support” not a verb? What does it mean to them? It’s like saying you believe in God without ever pondering what it actually means. A verb requires action. If you don’t want America and Iraq to succeed in this, your “support” is a sham without excuse.

They don’t like President Bush’s surge proposal. Fine. But why would you not stand in hope for a small chance at victory? Ben Stein had some wise points to make in his column for the American Conservative last week:

“Most important of all, who would have ever been rash enough on September 12, 2001 to say there would not be one major or even minor successful terrorist incident against the U.S. homeland in over five years? Who would have thought we would escape without more massive terror? But we have, and it is a foolhardy person who would say that's an accident. Bush may not have done it by himself, but he had something to do with it…. My point: let's be aware that Bush has presided over a lot of success in addition to substantial failure. My second point: no one elected the media to anything. If we let them lynch the man we elected as President we are throwing out the Constitution with the war in Iraq. In the studios and newsrooms, there is a lynch mob at work. Let's see it for what it is. We have a good man who has made mistakes in the Oval Office. He's the only President we have, and I trust him a lot more than I trust unelected princes of the newsroom.”

Also note that the President gave a noble shot at bringing the parties together, focusing on issues the Democrats deem most important. They give him no credit. Novak had something to say about Bush’s agenda and the Democratic’s typically childish handling of the situation:

“It shows that the self-confident Democratic leadership is uninterested in being cut into potentially disastrous outcomes in Iraq. It wants to function as a coordinate branch of government, not as friendly colleagues in the spirit of bipartisanship… Instead, the president talked about goals, though not methods, dear to Democratic hearts: expanded health insurance, energy independence and federal aid to local education… Yet, Democrats immediately indicated all such Bush plans have no chance of passage.

Rep. Pete Stark, chairman of the relevant Ways and Means subcommittee, immediately declared that Bush's serious effort to improve health insurance coverage was dead on arrival, without the benefit of hearings.”

We demand perfection from our leader. And we are allowed to expect great things.”

And then there was the big war protest in DC today. So the big mouth celebrities, your typical Susan Sarandon and Jane Fonda were there, spouting off for “peace.” I don’t think everyone who participated in the event is ignorant or uninformed but most people are. Most people don’t have a clue what’s going on or what they are truly marching for. That is evidenced by the photos I saw of people, again, hold signs that said, “Impeach Bush” and “Liar.” Whatever you think about the war or the Bush presidency, those things are absolutely unwarranted. Lies is certainly not an adequate or even remotely truthful term. And for what should he be impeached? The fact of the matter is, the American people voted the President into office and that office holds a lot of power. We gave it to him…so the direction he’s gone with it was his right; in fact, his duty. If he did anything less that what he thought the best possible option for our country, he would have been doing us a disservice and disrespecting the office of the presidency. David Frum, in the Wall Street Journal, last week, had some good commentary on this matter:

“Perhaps the answer to all these questions can be found in this: The sixth and seventh years of a presidency are the years when presidents discover their office's limits--and their own. All presidents end up trying to stretch too little sheet over too much bed. We want them to be bold but not adventurous, flexible but not vacillating, resolute without stubbornness, confident without cocksureness. Above all, we want them to pursue great and uncertain goals--and yet to achieve consistent success. The men and women who seek the office believe themselves capable of all those things. They have to, or they would not dare. And then they, and we, know great disappointment.

But that is not usually the end of the story. The story ends much later on, when partisan rancor cools, when the results come in, and the record can be read in full. When that day at last arrives for this president, perhaps all Americans will be able to agree that this most divisive of figures united in himself both the first President Bush and the second, both the president who sometimes erred and stumbled--and also the man who nonetheless kept fighting. George W. Bush has always been at his best in adversity. Americans face no shortage of adversity now.”

I’ll say that Republicans nor Democrats have it all right. But when it comes to these two parties, or in respect to the conservative vs. liberal argument between them, conservatives and/or Republicans make a lot more sense when you put it simply. The ideals, aspirations, solutions, possibilities, and hopes of the right are those of victory, of power, of true justice, of, in my opinion, common sense. The things to which we are naturally inclined as humanity, are elevated in the many of the ideals of the right. The Democratic agenda is skewed and irresponsible and, though, nice in theory—unrealistic and impossible.

My friends at The Weekly Standard stand on the side of realism, so I urge you to read on the words on William Kristol and Frederick Kagan, especially that very last part:

“The president asserted that no one wants failure in Iraq. Understandably, the commander in chief wanted to avoid conceding how very real a possibility failure is, so he chose his rhetoric carefully. He spoke in the abstract about the bipartisan desire for victory and success.

And yet the Democrats for the most part sat on their hands, refusing to applaud, never mind rise in favor of such statements from a wartime president.

They're simply for a political solution, not a military solution. But Democratic claims that Iraqis must immediately find a political solution to their political problems are laughable in the face of the violence in Baghdad. Abandoning American efforts to control the violence in Iraq would lead to an increase in violence. This would in turn reduce the odds of peaceful and constructive political discourse, and would further undermine any spirit of compromise between the competing Iraqi factions… It's a far cry from the Democratic party that insisted on sending American forces to stop ethnic cleansing in war-torn Bosnia in the 1990s, to the one that now declares an Iraqi bloodbath no concern of ours… Republicans should not hesitate to point out how irresponsible their Democratic colleagues (and some Republicans) are being. Senator Clinton's troop cap is dangerously foolish. The nonbinding resolution of disapproval Senator Biden has proposed is irresponsible. The fact is that President Bush has, as he was widely and correctly urged to do, changed strategy. He's put a new commander, General Petraeus, in charge. Petraeus thinks the new plan can work, with the support of additional troops. He'll be confirmed by the Senate and sent out to the theater this week. Members of Congress should ask themselves, "What can we do to help Petraeus succeed?" Or would Senator Clinton and the Democrats just as soon lose?”

Dig out your common sense and use it.

The following post may be published in the newspaper sometime soon but alas, I keep getitng pushed back and I'm not sure it will ever make it (long story). So...I' publish it here because I have something to say about it:

Charity goes trendy in bad taste

By Ericka Andersen

The Red Campaign, created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, “to empower consumers to shop and do good at the same time,” is founded on a deceptive strategy that the San Francisco Chronicle calls, “a giant red conspiracy to coax dollars out of capitalists to fight AIDS in Africa.” Gluttonous corporations profit in the name of charity as they jack up Red product prices and disguise indulgence with compassion.

Small portions of Red income bring medicine, education, and testing to AIDS sufferers in Africa. Extravagant consumerism is the inspiration behind this altruistic method. It bears an inconsistent charitable message that, according to conservative radio personality Michael Medved, “is a distraction from the issues that matter where people could make a real difference.”

GAP, Armani, Converse, Motorola, American Express, and Apple comprise the participating companies and skeptics should be wary of publicity and sales-induced motives. For example, the Red ipod, marketed at $199, donates only $10 to the campaign per purchase. GAP’s original plain, red tank top sold for $14.50, but is now $28.

If individuals are charity-minded, donate the extra $14 directly to a charity that doesn’t filter the change through their paychecks. According to Medved’s web site, Motorola spokesman Ron Garriquez admitted to the New York Times that, “I don’t believe its giving up profit, what I believe it is, is making more profit.”

Red’s tagline is this: “As first world consumers, we have tremendous power. What we collectively choose to buy or not to buy can change the course of life and history on this planet.” So much self-importance seems opposite the principle of donation.

Celebrity propaganda and marketing schemes, featuring superstars from Kate Moss to Chris Rock, are part of Bono’s humanitarian brilliance. A pioneer for Africa for years, he knows material possessions are fuel for his goals. This is compassion distilled, fitted for comfort. It bodes well with Time Magazines recent, “person of the year”: You.

Red surrenders to a necessary irony here: help someone else by pampering yourself. The concept is drenched in good intention, but misses the point. Says Meved on his Oct. 13 radio broadcast, “I only wish it might be possible to provide that help without the overdose of manipulation, guilt-tripping and fatuity involved in the current campaign.”

But Red speaks to the intentional public, and “what is evident to Bono [and Red developers] is that America has always consumed voraciously and frivolously. It seems to me that he has found a great way to allow Africa to benefit from this fact,” writes one blogger.

Manipulation is the key.

Red essentially declares that if you don’t participate, Africans will die by that choice. The shameless self-promotion attached is humility plucked from kindness, as the distinctive red color places focus on the giver, not the receiver

"…Not everybody has the time to be an activist or put on their marching boots. '" said Bono in an Oct.13 (replayed Dec.18) taping of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” But it’s not necessary to identify with one extreme or the other. There is plenty of space in between to pluck down a dollar here and there, without a prompt, or the promise of something in return.

If buying these brands, yes, buy Red, but don’t stop there.

Since I'd already heard several zillion previews of what President Bush would be speeching it up about tonight for the State of the Union, I figured I'd play a little game while I was sort of listening and dreading tommorrow when all the pundits and broadcasters and columnists and bloggers (hey, I know I know) were rehashing and dissecting and making claims and laying blame about everything that was or wasn't said. Actually, the first thing I heard as the SOU ended was some CNN lady talking about how "Barack Obama was actually sitting closer (in the 4th row) than Hillary (in the 5th row)"---Imagine the scandal! So at that point I left the room to leave you with the following list. Ladies and Gentleman, I present:

If our Politicians were Animals, which ones would they be?

President Bush- Koala Bear

Nancy Pelosi- Rat. I sware that's not on purpose!

Cheney- A mole who needs to "mole around" a little more (my sister may be the only who appreciates that really stupid quotation)

Laura Bush- Bunny Rabbit

Steny Hoyer- First of all, whose name is really Steny? He looks like an anteater

Joe Leiberman- Squirrel

Condoleezza Rice- Love this lady but---Hammerhead shark

Jim Webb- Bulldog---seriously

Chuck Schumer- He's a little Weasel!

Jeff Flake--Fox, yeah he's a cutie

John Kerry--A Giraffe in need of some vitamins

Joh McCain-A white grizzly bear, he's a tough old man!

Hillary Clinton-Racoon...the that freak you out in the middle of the night

Charlie Rangal--Bucktooth Beaver, he just is, just look

Barack Obama--He's tough so we had to settle on two: A Gazelle and  Panther. Sleek and smooth oh yes he is and he knows it.

Rudy Guiliani--He's an ostrich, sorry

Ted Kennedy-- Oh man a Rhinocerous

Harry Reid- Some sort of pet fish

Mitt Romney--A deer--no--a big Buck in the headlights

Barbara Boxer and Lynn Cheney both look like Golden Retreivers.

I'll finish by saying that I didn't actually, personally see all of these people on television and its possible they weren't even all there BUT I have seen them numerous other times and this wasn't really about the SOU anyway. Also, keep in mind, this was based on strictly appearance. I will have another segment based on deeper assets, and that should be quite the convo. Anyway, feel free to add to the list. This is my favorite game. For those that dont' know what I look like.......I'm a unicorn princess.

I'm writing to advocate one of the newest and most fabulous mags on the market....drum roll please.....DoubleThink is a product of America's Future Foundation. I just joined AFF, as a semi-new Washingtonian, and am extremely impressed thus far with the articles I've seen on their web site. They have an online publication called Brainwash, and DoubleThink has just become "real." The articles in the first issue are in-depth, well-researched, and written in a snappy style that will keep your eye reading on. Truth be told, I don't really know anyone yet in organization, but I was so impressed by this first article I read that I just had to share it with the world:

The article is called "Sexless and the City" by Cheryl Miller. It takes the theme of the TV show "Sex and the City" and holds it up to three, perhaps alternative, views. Now I admit I am hopelessly addicted to the actual "Sex and the City," but what can I say? That's entertainment. This is real life. And your principles really matter, and your heart really breaks, and there is no neat ending like the season finale, and well...just read on. It's something to ponder if nothing else. Here's the link:

http://www.affdoublethink.com/archives/2007/01/13/sexless_and_the.php

I'd keep checking out AFF's web site for DoubleThink updates too. The best and the brightest and the future of our movement are lurking behind the pages!

Yesterday marked the 34^th anniversary of Roe V. Wade. I meant to blog on the day of but, really, this issue is a constant. And I’m sad that it is still so hot on the front burner of today’s most controversial issues. Many of those that I love and care about don’t pay too much attention to politics. They won’t be turning on the State of the Union, and most of them didn’t even vote. They lack strong opinions on most governmental matters, but abortion is another issue--for even the laziest of political and social minds, its emotional for good reason. Abortion. Everyone seems to own an opinion, wavering back and forth between “depends on” and “if” and “I wouldn’t but…” To some, there are many details to solidify before staking out a firm stance.

But not for me. Ever since I was, I was glad to be. And life, and all the incredible things that entails, is quite short in the scheme of history, humanity, and forever. A measly 80 years if your lucky. Damn the hard and the unexpected things of life if you will…but celebrate because you can choose to make them better. It’s a different kind of choice.

Someone important once said, “Do what you can, where you are with what you’ve got.” A version of that quote is always floating around and its always relevant and its always good advice. I wholeheartedly believe that every single woman, be it the President of NARAL or a 15-year-old girl, knows that abortion is wrong. Everything that we’ve come from, the very essence of our beginnings and our souls, goes against it.

Choosing life can be the most selfless, gracious, heroic choice of YOUR life. By that I mean adoption.

One of my favorite quotes, pertinent to most every decision of character strengthening and life building I face, finds relevance here as well:

"Count it the greatest sin to prefer life to honor, and for the sake of living lose what makes life worth living."

-Decimus Juvenal

So often—this is what abortion comes down to: preferring LIFE--your life as you wish it to be, as you see fit or possible—to the honor that comes with dying to that which is the substance of REAL life. A short little blip we all hope to catch here on the radar screen of history and eternity. Don’t deny someone their shot. Consider the frame existence as a whole. A new perspective can be frighteningly revealing.

Mother Theresa said this: “Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."

We are born with a moral compass called a conscious. We are born, ingrained with certain inaliable ties to the sanctity of life, to humanity. Human beings are different from every other animal because of our souls, because of our character, because of our emotions, because who we are is so much more than the bodies we inhabit. Killing our own kind is simply not human.

I’ll repeat this for what its worth: Abortion stops a beating heart. And you can’t argue with that. Abortion is an agonizing death for the unborn baby. Abortion deletes a name from the roster of someone’s second grade classroom. Abortion leaves one dateless for the prom. Abortion means you’ll never know even if you want to.

Nick Cannon made a music video about his mother, who had him when she was 17 years old. Click below to view this video, which speaks to choosing life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIrQ8z6_WJs

I admit that yesterday was the first time I actively celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It has long been a free day, lacking in personal meaning and allowing a welcomed hault in a string of early Monday mornings. But not yesterday. Yesterday I woke up at 6am to be up and ready for a rally and march held in a low-income, black neighborhood in inner city Washington DC. The energy was genuine, empowering, grateful.

I in my auburn-haired ponytail and American Eagle jeans, with my Nike knapsack and perky freckles. I turned out that I might show an appreciation for a man who played a vital role in changing this country; a man who spoke inspiration and hope with a commanding eloquence, whose words turn up to emphasize points of clarity and optimism in the pens of syndicated columnists and speeches of leaders everyday. His message transcends the racial barrier for which it was originally intended, seeping into all phases of struggle in this life. For every individual in this country, regardless of color, MLK represents the possibility of a dream come true. To dedicate one’s life so fiercely to something that seems impossible is so rare an occurance in the history of humankind. There are few who require such extravagant commemoration and from those gems we must steal appreciation. Think on the significance of the struggle, the consequences had the strong not fought. Think on the words that continue to drive a nation, of the dignity to literally and symbolically keep his head raised up.

What can be said of this man that hasn’t already been uplifted to the masses? I’m not sure what I can add, but I know that my life must exist to defy mediocrity because I'm so convicted by those who've gone before. Most people ignore the tug on their hearts to do something, to change something, to be something…justifying away the time that could be spent stepping up to the plates they are called to. Passion is a gift, and if you have it about anything, no excuse merits ignorance of that calling. If passion is a gift, ability is your obligation to try and fulfill that. My gratitude to MLK for living out that mission is endless. His faith-filled perseverance steadies the spark of my own ambitions to help make the world a better place. Thank you, Mr. King, for your dreams.

You know your out of ammo when you start in on the personal attacks. Check out what Barbara Boxer is throwing at Condoleezza Rice (from the New York Post):

Then, to Rice: "You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family."

Breathtaking.

Simply breathtaking.

We scarcely know where to begin.

The junior senator from California ap parently believes that an accom plished, seasoned diplomat, a renowned scholar and an adviser to two presidents like Condoleezza Rice is not fully qualified to make policy at the highest levels of the American government because she is a single, childless woman.

It's hard to imagine the firestorm that similar comments would have ignited, coming from a Republican to a Democrat, or from a man to a woman, in the United States Senate. (Surely the Associated Press would have put the observation a bit higher than the 18th paragraph of a routine dispatch from Washington.) 

I'm sure Ms. Rice threw that off her back and moved on because she hasn't the time for a game of insults while trying to run the nation. But come on. And it's true had it come from a Republican to a Democrat, cries of judgment would bellow from the depths of the liberal hypocrisy that reigns in American news media. 

The same article highlights why I know I stand on the side of sanity, common sense, and principle:

"Clinton would do well to consider the words of GOP Sen. John McCain, another White House hopeful, who frankly admits that his strong support for a troop surge in Iraq has cost him votes...

Said McCain: 'I'd rather lose a campaign than lose a war.'"

The same can't be said of all, unfortunately. The fact is, we must take this chance. If we dont', we do a disservice to our military, our country, the Iraqi people, and the hope we must relinquish. It's true that you don't know unless you try. It's true you must hold out for the last, best hope. It's true that there's really no other option and everyone should be rooting for this surge to accomplish something good. Sadly, it seems that too many secretly hope for failure just to prove themselves right. To read the full commentary, click the link below.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01122007/postopinion/editorials/boxers_low_blow_editorials_.htm?page=0

Hey don't take it from the US or me if you don't want, but do listen to the currently elected leadership of Iraq, see below for a word from the Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashimi:

"Despite all the hardships, however, we Iraqis were able to raise the rudimentary pillars of our nascent democracy by writing a constitution, electing a parliament based on that constitution and granting a vote of confidence to a government through that elected parliament. It is not fair to look at Iraq as a collection of failures without identifying its successes. The birth of a new nation is not easy, but just as your nation has become a beacon for democracy, we hope that Iraq will one day do the same.

All is not lost! Eliminating regional influence is the only way to bring Iraqis back to their senses. Americans understandably find it difficult to support any strategy that prolongs the presence of your troops in Iraq. We do not want to stand in the way of your forces going home. But that decision should not be made under the pressure of car bombs and kidnappings. A precipitous withdrawal of forces would create a security vacuum in Iraq that our forces cannot yet handle -- and would therefore be filled by extremists. This does not serve the interests of Iraq or the United States."

Click the link belwo for the full piece, posted on Real Clear Politics:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901331.html

The Washington Examiner is an excellent newspaper, for which I recently interned, and is doing great things for a more balanced news media in Washington. The Examiner currently runs editions in DC, Baltimore, and San Francisco, and is equipped with solid reporting, cutting edge commentary, and extraordinary editorials. 

I'm writing now to advocate their latest feature, which is doing good things for war reporting in the midst of the typical media refusal to print the truth. Read below to see why The Examiner should be your newspaper of choice and check in on the real reporting. Here's what they're doing:

"WASHINGTON - Editor’s note: Blogger Bill Ardolino is embedded with a U.S. Marine unit in Iraq. He’s there to find out the truth about the U.S. war effort on the ground in Iraq. Unlike the vast majority of mainstream media journalists who stay within the Green Zone in Baghdad, Ardolino is on patrol in the streets wherever his embedded Marine unit goes. This is his second exclusive dispatch for The Examiner."

Here's the link:

http://www.examiner.com/a-499632~Bill_Ardolino__Putting_out_fires_in_Fallujah.html

Partisan buzz peaked recently when a wide range, long term study surfaced in the form of a book by Syracuse University Professor Arthur Brooks proving that the politically conservative were far more charitable than their friends on left. Because the left typically makes themselves out to be benevolent heroes of the poor, this was telling news. An old saying--people won’t believe what you say, they’ll believe what you do—had been ignored prior to this provocative data.

Citizens nationwide blindly accepted the liberal love propaganda, going so far as to key them, “the bleeding hearts.” What is more empathetically picturesque than that? In the meantime, conservatives unjustly became “cold-hearted.” In the midst of deception, an inconvenient study brought truth to light.

The difference between liberals and conservatives is monumental: Conservatives act, Liberals feel. Only one of those verbs matters to those in need. Typically, small, lower-income towns are conservative, while bigger, high-come cities are liberal. Author John Stossel compiled a test for this idea and reports that, “Even though people in Sioux Falls make, on average, half as much money as people in San Francisco, and even though the San Francisco location was much busier -- three times as many people were within reach of the bucket -- by the end of the second day, the Sioux Falls bucket held twice as much money.”

Free market principles and local government control restored to the citizens ensures less talk and more action. When big government becomes everyone’s financial planner, masking as lenders of justice, personal responsibility diminishes and we lose a critical freedom to choose. And that kind of satisfaction is priceless. The truth is, according to the late economist Milton Freidman, “Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own.”

Talk really is cheap and, “Blue State America spends a lot of time talking about how much more caring and enlightened it is. But that’s with someone else’s money…,” wrote Jonah Goldberg in his January 4 column.

Words take abuse in this faux as well--justice, equality, diversity, fairness, and opportunity have lost immense significance thanks to liberal distortion. They’re used to eliminate the merits of personal achievement, pride, and success. Yet, these principles cushion the prosperity of our history and our future. Author and columnist Thomas Sowell writes that, “Lofty talk about ‘social justice’ or ‘fairness’ boils down to greatly expanded powers for politicians, since those pretty words have no concrete definition. They are a blank check for creating disparities in power that dwarf disparities in income -- and are far more dangerous.”

Liberals disfigure word connotation, coaxing even freedom and justice into magnetic opposites in their secular meanings. The ultimate idea of social “justice” eradicates the basis of personal freedoms to choose things like where to put your paycheck. Goldberg writes that, “a “just” society is [now] one where, because the state helps everyone, people aren’t obliged to help anyone.”

That justice also condemns judgment, making morality relative and no one subject to substantial criticism. Dinesh D’Souza writes, “the liberal promotion of autonomy, individuality, and self-fulfillment as moral ideals make it impossible to question or criticize or place limits on…cultural trends.”

The liberal trend of a stingy pocketbook should certainly be questioned in light of the deceitful media spin that said otherwise. Keep taxes low, as the more generous Republicans advocate, and everyone can put their money where their mouth is. Though government is trying to redeem itself now from the gluttonous pork-barrel spending that abused our tax dollars, it goes to show you what can happen no matter what party is in charge.

Conservative citizens have the right idea and they demonstrate their reliability to give considerably even if the government isn’t there to shelter the poor with limitless federal programs and nameless tax dollars. Neal Boortz blogs that, “For many Democrats the way to correct income disparity is to punish those who do well in order to gain the affections of those who are satisfied with mediocrity.”

Obligatory charity through taxes creates a society of helplessness. The American dream becomes a spirit of universal contentment instead of individual triumph. A place where the best no longer exists because government says we all must have level playing grounds. The sweetness of victory is dulled due to progressive cynics who question all facets of fairness and challenge the very morality of competition in the first place. Fairness is an overused virtue that stifles ambition. Time spent debating the legalities of fairness wastes passion that can easily bypass the restraints of limitation.

My point is, stop talking, and like Nike, Just Do It.

I wrote a tribute to the soldiers last week (see my posts to the right side over there or scroll down to find it). I dedicated the entry to my friend, a soldier currently serving in Iraq. His response to reading my piece was touching and I refuse to keep it to myself because you all need to know what they truly feel. Please read what he wrote below and know that what we support, what we continually defend to the naysayers, is worthy.

A message from a Soldier:  

"Hi Ericka, how are you? I read your writing, It almost made me cry. You don't know how much it means to us over here to see that there's people like you who are on our side. You understand what we're doing, and know that there's a lot of good in it. The people in our country have become pathetic, and it makes me sick that I'm fighting for them. Then there's people like you, who I couldn't be more proud to serve. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you. Let me know how things are going for you. Miss you."


And once again, I say, THANK YOU. God Bless our Soldiers.

In light of the Michael Richards debacle (Kramer screaming racist remarks on stage), Paula Zahn featured “Skin Deep: Racism in America.” I was skeptical at what new information or cutting edge revelations could possibly arise from this old debate. To deliberate the idea of racism is ridiculous. Of course it exists, hiding or radiating from every color skin in America. But, typically, and as this show proved, the accusations are aimed at white people.

I am continually frustrated by attempts to exacerbate racism in America. That they even took the time to delve into this topic for two hours of primetime only breeds more of it. They took us to a podunk town in Texas to exemplify the existence of racism in America, thereby magnifying a minute population as the real America. This is disproportionate and inaccurate reporting. A video quote of a clearly ignorant and perhaps mentally unstable woman in a local diner saying, “As far as eatin’ with ‘em and socializin’, that’s where I draw then line.” Huh? Do you really expect us to believe that kind of attitude is prevelant in modern society? Try featuring a more realistic and stable person as a representative of the entire white population.

Al Sharpton whined about the lack of black talk show hosts on television, and the number of blacks arrested as compared to whites. Looking at the facts alone will tell you that poverty and crime are directly linked in higher numbers to the black community. But, as Star Parker, wrote today in her column, Zahn’s show “ignored the most destructive and widely prevailing racist attitude in our society today, one of which both blacks and whites are guilty. This is the attitude that blacks cannot be held to the same standards as whites.”

It’s true that black people in this country went through horrendous times. The Civil Rights movement was a glorious victory. The legacy of racism does live on to the next generations, but holding onto it benefits no one. It is the black people in America, who endured and persevered agonizingly through the Civil Rights movement, who exemplify the attitudes that should prevail today.

America must stop feeling so indebtedly guilty to black America for a past we can’t undo. The government must stop trying to pay back those wronged because no amount of handouts, affirmative action policies, or historical justifications will suffice for that wrongful prejudice fueled by irrational hate. No matter what, justice won’t be served. However, that reality must be finally be accepted and real racial equality should be elevated. This means the same standards for all colors. This means not focusing on race. This means challenging every individual person to take control of their own life and accomplish things without a mentality of hindrance. Wasting energy on something that could hold you down, only does just that.

If you don’t make something happen for yourself, no one is going to do it for you, and no one really cares why you never became what you could have. Your excuses only comfort you. Those who inspire us most in life are those who had no excuses. You watch them run against the grain, make the right decisions in the midst of hardship, struggle to overcome whatever obstacles are in their way, and climb achingly over the precipice. I want to be a victor. That is impossible when dwelling on victimhood. Of course this applies to more than color. There are a thousands things any person could use as an excuse, including bad childhoods, abusive pasts, unfair tragedies, physical impairments, and more. All of these things could defeat you. But standards are not pre-fixed or relative for everything in life that is unfair.

No one is exempt from the agony or ecstasy that is this life. The American dream is alive as well, waiting for you to choose. The government can’t give it to you. And it doesn’t thrive in a sea of excuse either. It is the road less traveled, the difficult path to freedom, the daily choices we make, the hard ones. Yes, racism exists, but as Parker writes, “It's a racism of diminished expectations. A racism that says blacks still need special treatment in education and job placement, that we can't give black parents freedom to choose where to send their kids to school, that we can't let low-income black workers build wealth through a personal retirement account, instead of paying Social Security taxes, because they won't know what to do.”

My thoughts on this topic are often disregarded because I’m white. But that’s just another way around the real issue.

SOLDIERS

There’s something about the sight of a soldier that summons all the best things in me to surface. Their presence commands respect because they inhabit genuine sacrifice. They stand up so we can rest easier. They run so others can walk. They protect so we can have peace. They fight so others can receive justice. They are the molders of mankind, pillars of history, stepping up in a dedication my lack of courage can barely comprehend.

In the midst of Iraq Study Group report, congressional Democratic takeover, and obsession with the 2008 presidential bids already stalking television stations, it’s too easy to lose sight of history, truth, justice, and possibility in this war. Everyone knows someone or many who have been deployed, probably more than once, by this time in the war. I think we sometimes forget the significance of such a sacrifice, and the goals of those men and women. Sadly, some of our leadership has disregarded the larger picture and the media continues to play for the wrong team. In light of this, it’s easy for a vulnerable public to become jaded, cynical, and grossly mislead to the wrong conclusions.

But there are some honest, honorable men to draw us back to truth in battle:

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
--John Stewart Mill—

As I watched the American soldiers in Mosul, Iraq interviewed on Hannity and Colmes a few nights ago, I was reinvigorated in my support for them and increasingly furious at the cynical, leftist, immature media that portrays things inaccurately and to their own liking. The men let it be known that they watch the American news and are unhappy with what is reported. They made it clear that victory is a reality that won’t be possible to see or understand for many years from now. Democrats, among others, want results now and that is simply impossible. The rationale voice will make choices based on what is logically possible, as well as historically and morally best for Iraq, America, and the world.

“Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He’s the chap who makes it possible for civilized folk to despise war.”

-unknown

The majority of the media represents the political left. Why are they intent on failure? They won’t even hope for the success, it seems in large part because they want President Bush to be wrong. They want this war to be wrong; they want to be right so badly that they will deny the reality. They and those who subscribe to their propaganda are those who embody the point of the quotes above.

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

--John F. Kennedy

At the wedding of a close friend this weekend, the groom and his men wore the uniforms of our country. In their Navy blues and Marine-pinned, gloriously starched and shiny-shoed outfits, I was among my heroes, a few of the many. Several of the men had recently returned from lengthy stints in Iraq. Brooke had waited painstaking months for the safe return of her fiancé. When I watched Abe take his mother’s arm down the aisle at the start of the ceremony, my first tear welled. I was proud of a man I barely knew and I was grateful to sit at his wedding as he pledged to love my friend for the rest of his life. He is a Navy SEAL, one of the toughest, bravest, strongest men in the entire world. I wish I owned such courage, such grit, such humility.

“Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war. “
--Ernest Miller Hemmingway—

From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.
--Thomas Jefferson—

An imperfect world littered with historical evidence stamps truth on these words. Years from today, I hope we will see how patient endurance in the face of opposition brought success. That will not be the case if we pull out, if we decrease security measures here, if we try to “talk” to countries with corrupt leadership and ties to terrorist groups. I may not be an expert from the Department of Defense, but it scares me that these senses, so simply common to me, aren’t registering with those who could hold our fate in their hands.

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave...
--Patrick Henry—

Thank you for your everything, guys. This one especially goes out to my friend, Jeff Ripley, who is overseas and who I love and pray for. One of our heroes was killed last week and you can click below to see her tribute video. To Maj. Megan McClung, who was killed in Iraq on Dec. 6:

http://hotair.com/archives/2006/12/14/video-rip-maj-megan-mcclung/

In the spirit of this entry, I’m reprinting a dedication I wrote several years ago to a special soldier, Devin Grella, who was killed while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. My heart was touched and changed by his story.

                                   The Thousandth Soldier

I was never meant to hear of a man named Devin Grella. I wasn’t supposed to read his name among a courageous and noble list, or see his face, a faded black and white in the newspaper. His eyes are forward, unsmiling, with a crew cut, and a youthful hope behind the fear and dedication streaming out of such a photo. I can picture thousands of these shots strewn among office desks and single ones framed on mantels. Photographs like these would cause me to take my hat off if I wore one, to let a second of silence overtake a hectic moment, and to feel an unexplainable innate sense of respect for men and women I’ve never even met. They are college students, restaurant employees, older brothers, mothers, fiancés, and musicians. They were prom kings and bookworms, the beautiful and the average, and among foreign soil they now stand unaware of the irrevelent difference, united in duty-called, and common sacrifice.

I’ve never laid eyes on Devin Grella. I don’t know what movies he loved, or what bittersweet memories he carried with him on the many planes and hours that brought him to a place he never dreamed he’d see his last sunset. I don’t know whose pictures and tattered letters he folded into his pockets at night, or whose face he thought of the second before his life ended. I wonder if his mother got to kiss him goodbye enough times the day he left the airport in Ohio. I can picture him signing his name to the Army papers just a few months ago, with a solid grip, not realizing he had sealed his own fate. I now envision his mother’s tears staining mounds of his smiles, frozen in photos of a timeless reality that will never feel the warmth of his breath again, in a world that won’t ever hear his laughter. I cherish my silly moments, my unforgettable nights with best friends, even my hurts and heartbreaks. And I wonder, speeding through the film of Devin’s life, what moments meant the most to him, and what moments will never be, what birthdays and vacations he won’t see.

Devin was a member of the 10-man squad unit supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in Tijit, Iraq. My friend Jeff, squad leader, shook hands with Devin two months ago, sealing a friendship that would lead Jeff to Ohio to hug a mother whose son would never say I love you again. Jeff is flying over the Atlantic Ocean right now, snug in his Army uniform, impatient with desire and excitement to see the fiancé who has been waiting for him nine months. He will walk through Indianapolis International Airport hailing a thick shadow of esteem. He will, in complete humility, represent the spirit and the sacrifice of a fallen comrade. I can’t think of a man who could better gratify this life lost in military service. Just last week he probably spoke to Devin about coming home for a two-week leave, after a long, 9-month stint. He probably told him about his beautiful and supportive fiancé Sara, one of many women waiting in fearful expectation, clinging daily to the news and their cell phones in apprehension. These men risked their lives together on missions and talked about the future beneath bright Middle Eastern moons. Though Jeff is happy and excited to be back in Indiana for two weeks, his joy is overshadowed by grief. He will travel to Ohio three days after coming home and respectfully, bravely shake hands with Devin’s family. Jeff spent the last hours of Devin’s life by his side, securing a lifetime of memories that will forever change him. He is Devin’s last communicator, the person who will consecrate such an existence.

In the politically divided, fear-driven days of the past three years, I have never thought about our soldiers more than I have in the past nine months, especially the past two weeks. When Jeff was deployed, it was a scary reality we had irrationally hoped would disappear. But he, in modest heroic character, accepted this task and proudly donned his Army greens. He hugged his family and kissed his teary-eyed girl goodbye, ultimately tying me to and representing this war. It is Jeff’s face I see, realizing I cannot block this reality from my own. Iraq is my own reality; it must be. Jeff is living in the midst of it so I don’t have to. Devin, too, had laced up his boots, and stepped into a ravaged, oppressed country he’d never been. Devin slept in ditches, and hid behind hills, and witnessed war-ridden tragedies, never dreaming he would become one of them. Devin made the ultimate sacrifice and I wonder if there’s any other way to say it because nothing now can do his life justice. It’s his face I will see when a patriotic tune catches me off guard. It’s men and women like Devin and Jeff, those still alive and fighting, that I will envision at the next football game when I stand in silence as the national anthem rings through a hushed stadium. My trembling hand will cover a truly grateful and changed heart.

In the hectic, name-calling and opinionated time of pre-election months, a man named Devin Grella silenced it all for me. Political parties and views aside, there are thousands of men and women across the ocean risking their lives for a cause most of them believe in, for a country they stand proud of, for many people sometimes who don’t recognize their contribution to America and to the world. It’s easier than not to go about one’s daily business, bypassing the newspaper that declares hard-to-understand, foreign words about the war, and choosing to flip past the nightly news to a rerun of Friends. But I think we owe it to the soldiers to pay attention, to at consistently recognize their absence from classes and workdays and dinners with their families. They deserve at least that.

It’s quite obvious they are the embodiment of words reserved for the few who can truly fulfill them; Duty. Honor. Humility. Sacrifice. To Devin I say, you are worthy of these words. And as Jeff, an American solider, ponders his thoughts in the dusty Iraqi desert, he proclaims “Live Free” in an email that crosses country borders, capturing the essence American liberty. Those two words seem to say it all.

            

 When I heard that New York City had set a timetable for restaurants to eliminate trans-fats from their ingredients, in order to “help” residents eat more healthily, I was annoyed.

According to AP, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers…but if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that." Actually, the government shouldn’t do that. Individuals should make those healthy choices on their own.

Being health-concious is a good thing, but outlawing an ingredient is ridiculous. The Center for American Progress talks about the “growing obesity epidemic” and CNN asks if obesity is a “looming threat?” These weak and blameless phraseologies remove accountability, leaving the individual at the mercy of the healthcare system. This is unnceccesary when simple, disciplined choices will produce the intended result of health and fitness. Such progressive thoughts and this recent legal action are symbolic of a larger problem.

I could care less if my burger is made with trans-fat. But I do care that my government thinks I require health supervision and restriction. When the powers that be assume citizens are too irresponsible to choose, a conquest of liberty appears.

In calm and unquestionable tone, the speaker on a frequently played healthcare commercial equates cancer to obesity, offering sympathy to both as life-threatening diseases. Though both are certainly life-threatening, they are not comparable conditions.

The National Center for Health Statistics shows over 60 million American adults are obese, a number that has grown significantly throughout the 21^st century. While most disease statistics, like cancer, grow yearly because of longer life spans, obesity numbers increase at younger ages. It’s not a disease, it’s a choice. Except in the rare case of metabolic dysfunction or thyroid condition, obesity’s “threat” is just an excuse. When people are told they are helpless, they naturally become so. This is why government handouts and so-called protection of the weak do nothing for the welfare of society.

Outlawing trans-fat only gives citizens one less responsibility for themselves, therefore offering another excuse as to why they are fat and/or unhealthy. It’s not my fault, I was born this way, they will say when the ingredient is replaced and nothing changes. Instead of abolishing food freedom, why not emphasize strength, priorities, and accountability for one’s own health? Movement towards government control like this, even if small, is never a good because it mirrors socialist ideals. This law, too, significantly affects an entire industry of workers.

"We don't think that a municipal health agency has any business banning a product the Food and Drug Administration has already approved," Dan Fleshler, a spokesman for the National Restaurant Association, told the AP.

Restaurant consumers can’t be fully aware of the trans-fat content of their entrée, but people aren’t fat or unhealthy because of that. If all trans-fat were eliminated this afternoon, the obesity rate in this country would not fall. Relying on someone else to take care of your problem makes you irresponsible and lazy, the last kind of trend America needs right now.

Scientifically speaking, a person becomes overweight by taking in more calories than they burn on a daily basis. Therefore, the simplest and most effective diet advice around is this: eat less, move more. It’s not the trans-fat in a hamburger at lunch everyday that keeps someone 30 pounds overweight.

The real struggle is that of self-control. No matter what kind of restrictions the government puts on so-called unhealthy ingredients, an overweight individual can and will maximize everything else and essentially change nothing. As someone who has crunched my way through an entire tube of Olean-injected, fat-free Pringles in one sitting, I can attest that having eaten a fourth of the regular-fat Pringles probably would have been a better idea. But the mind reasons that it’s okay to have more due to the decreased fat and calories.

A USA today article quips that, “most diseases today, including heart disease, cancer, stroke and AIDS, are partly if not significantly due to lifestyle and behavioral choices. Obesity is the end result of poor lifestyle and genetics in the same way that lung cancer or heart attacks can be the end result of smoking and genetics.”

With cancer and heart disease, you can only hope that the remedies work. With obesity, your choices absolutely will. The simple idea of our freedom of choice founds the bedrock of American society. It should be emphasized positively, not taken away.

 Enjoy my random thoughts today an my writing based on the luncheon I attended yesterday at the National Press Club with Elizabeth Dole and Chuck Schumer. It was pretty cool....read below these short paragraphs to hear more about that and my thoughts on the election!

-Why doesn’t Madonna just adopt an actual orphan? There are millions!

-Face it, no one knows whose going to win: Republicans or Democrats. Just when you think you’ve got it, it changes. Stop analyzing and just be sure to vote. When you classify the election as “already over” towards one side, it encourages some lazy voters to stay home in the thought that their side already won or lost.

-The media should stop putting so much emphasis on stem cell research. There’s massive good coming from experimentation on adult stem cells as well as chord blood cells but most people don’t know that! People seem to disregard these two sources, both un-burdened by the ethical hazards.

-If you want us to pull out of Iraq, please provide a REAL alternative solution. The terrorist groups are extremely patient and they are just waiting for us to back off, anywhere. Iran (possibly THE most dangerous, powerful country (North Korea too) in the world right now) WANTS us to leave.

-Universal healthcare is just one huge step towards socialism

-I sincerely do not understand how abortion is actually an issue for argument. Everyone knows what it is, and if you call it anything but death, you’re deluded. It’s violent, disgusting, and heartbreaking. Maybe someday this genocide will cease…

-Americans live in a bubble-like society. Most of my friends have never been to a third-world country, couldn’t tell you much about the government (let alone foreign relations), and are ignorant when it comes to the seriousness of the world war being harvested. This is scary.

-Washington is never so exciting as when elections get dirty (ie. Mark Foley, Harry Reid, George Allen, Jim Webb...), it’s intense.

-North Korea and Kim Jong Il are freakin’ scary and if you don’t know that, your not paying enough attention

-Cindy Sheehan really, truly believes in her cause but she is seriously out of touch. Read the new book “American Mourning” to get the real story of Casey Sheehan’s heroic death.

-Intense interrogative tactics are sometimes necessary when dealing with evil people

-Polls show that the media (journalists) vote overwhelmingly Democrat (over 80%)…so what does that tell you about your newspapers and news programs? Bias prevails because we are human. Those involved in this profession are sure to have strong opinions on these matters and that becomes ingrained in all they do. Watch what you read and watch.

-Regular citizens have a personal responsibility to take advantage of our free press and inform themselves. Do it, you need to know.

-One more time: Terrorists are extremists. They are real. They are growing. They want to kill us. They want Islam to reign supreme. They want to be martyrs. They aren’t just saying it.

-Do not underestimate the essential nature of personal responsibility, free markets, small government, low taxes for a better economy, and the belief that there is good and bad (not everything is debatable or subject to interpretation.)

Two weeks from yesterday, dramatic change may or may not take place in this great nation. If Democrats succeed in taking over the House, we may be in for many steps in the wrong direction. The National Press Club hosted a luncheon today allowing for commentary and prediction from National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairwoman Elizabeth Dole and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer. Their words were not unexpected but did contribute to the heated races now burning through our airwaves, television screens, and streets.

Schumer lead the discussion emphasizing Democrat’s focus on necessary administrative change. He made some interesting points but was ridiculous in discounting any credit toward the Bush administration in regards to Homeland Security. He claimed it “a failure” that hates government intervention, and has no real focus. I cannot believe anyone could completely disregard something that has been so fundamental to our country’s security since 9/11. When arguing with Democrats, which frequently happens in this lovely state, I often bring up the point that you simply cannot know the incredible prevention of precautions taken by the Bush administration.

The second ignorant viewpoint Schumer had, regarded the Mark Foley scandal. He seemed to honestly believe that Mark Foley was symbolic of the Republican party, in that he was “a metaphor for a Republic congress that says one thing and does another…and will have a significant effect on the election.” Any logical person knows, as Dole accurately pointed out in opposition, that Foley’s revelation was a bi-partisan issue revolving around a man with severe problems. Democrats and Republicans both have scum and you can’t place immorality in that regard on one side or the other.

Dole of course focused on the war in Iraq, claiming that Democrats seek to exploit the war, while Republicans are invested in the long term strategic objective of completing the job and defeating the enemy. She pointed out that Iran and Syria, both huge supporters of insurgency groups, want us out of Iraq…so why would we give them what they want?

“Staying in Iraq is vital for national security, the stability of the Middle East, and the world,” said Dole. Security and war on terror may be the most significant factors the Republicans are riding on, but essentially stripped down, they are truly and critically the most important.

Responding to Schumer’s accusation about Republicans running from Bush, she said that Bush wasn’t on the ballot and Democrats are running as if that is who they are against.

The fact is that polls, pundits, and opinions are no authentic predictors of the political future. Dole cited many examples of former Republican candidates that trailed in the polls before elections but won in the end. Last week, people were giving the elections to Democrats without question. This week, the race is on again and we’re all just waiting for the next scandal to surface and sabotage one side or the other without time to soften the blow before voting day.

Not only do Republicans have significantly more money coming in, but Dole said, “If Democrats take over, you’ll see weaker security…and there is nothing more important that winning this war.” One friend of mine continues to say, what have Republicans done for domestic policy? What have they done in the past six years at all? I can hardly get a handle on the fact that she cannot admit to anything good! She can’t admit that there have more important things to deal with and conquer than domestic policy this time around. There have been no more attacks on American soil since 9/11, in thanks to Bush’s anti-terror policies, and the economy is booming. It’s easy to say you hate Bush without really knowing much, but no one knows how any other President would have done it better. I’d rather a warrior who believes in himself than someone who wavers.

Ultimately, both Dole and Schumer concluded that each of their prospective candidates were best suited and representative of their home states, giving examples of good old boys from Montana among others.

It’s not that I don’t think Democrats have our best interests at heart…it’s that I think they are misguided in the beliefs of what those are. People say Republicans are running on national security and the war on terror alone. Maybe that is their biggest ticket, but what’s more important than securing the fate of our nation at this point in history? We are truly creating the future right now and I hope hindsight doesn’t slap us in the face.