[GretchenM]

QUOTE: President and Mrs. Bush thanked military medical caregivers: "And so on behalf of a grateful nation, thanks for doing your duty, thanks for serving, thanks for being an important part of this march for freedom; and thanks, most of all, for bringing comfort and aid and solace to those who have been hurt on the battlefield and their families."

Urging the Senate (once again) to pass the Patriot Act, Bush said, "In order to protect America, the United States Senate must reauthorize the Patriot Act. The terrorists still want to hit us again. There is an enemy that lurks, a dangerous group of people that want to do harm to the American people -- and we must have the tools necessary to protect the American people. The Patriot Act passed overwhelmingly shortly after the September the 11th attack. It has been an effective tool; it has worked."

"The GO Zone Act ... increases funding for Hope scholarships and lifetime learning credits for students attending colleges and graduate students in the -- and graduate schools in the Gulf Opportunity Zone. It's going to make continuing education for workers more accessible and help support high school training that these Gulf Coast residents are going to need to fill the jobs which are actually going to be existing."

Heading out to make a statement on the Patriot Act and the need for our nation's Senate to pass it again.

[tiredoflaundry]

Hiya!

[GretchenM]

Dose on the way. Please wait to
post or
repost photos
till the all clear.

Thanks.

[GretchenM]

The link to this on FR goes in a loop without getting one to the source, but here goes:

"BETHESDA, Md. - Since the Iraq war began in 2003, it has become an annual pre-Christmas rite for President Bush to personally comfort wounded soldiers. He continued that tradition Wednesday, going bed-to-bed in an intensive care unit and handing out Purple Hearts to the valiant. Bush was visiting with Marines wounded in Iraq and the medical staff treating them at the National Naval Medical Center here. Before going behind closed doors to spend about two hours with servicemen and women, Bush spoke briefly to medical care givers and troops able to leave their rooms."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1544800/posts

[ilovew]

Hey! How are you doing this evening?

[MamaB]

Hello.

[freema]

Beautiful picture!

[DrDeb]

MUST VIEW:

At 10:21 PM EDT, C-Span will re-broadcast the President's comments at the Bethesda Navy Medical Center:
http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/schedule.csp


MUST READS:

PRESIDENT'S SPEECH BOOSTS CONFIDENCE IN WAR ON TERROR
Rasmussen Poll

In a survey conducted following the President's Sunday night speech, 50% of Americans believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror. That's up from 44% immediately before the speech. It is also the highest level of optimism measured in 2005.

Forty-two percent (42%) now expect things to get better in Iraq over the next six months. That's up from 37% before the speech.

http://rasmussenreports.com/

The aforementioned RASMUSSEN POLL also notes that the President's JA rating has risen to 47% 'adults' (50% 'likely voters'), consistent with the new ABCNews/WashPost and Hotline polls:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Presidential_04/bush_ja.html


PRESIDENT HAD LEGAL AUTHORITY TO OK TAPS
By John Schmidt (Clinton administration)
Published December 21, 2005
[Most 'blog' pundits are citing this article as the definitive statement on the surveillance topic!!!]

President Bush's post- Sept. 11, 2001, authorization to the National Security Agency to carry out electronic surveillance into private phone calls and e-mails is consistent with court decisions and with the positions of the Justice Department under prior presidents.

The president authorized the NSA program in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. An identifiable group, Al Qaeda, was responsible and believed to be planning future attacks in the United States. Electronic surveillance of communications to or from those who might plausibly be members of or in contact with Al Qaeda was probably the only means of obtaining information about what its members were planning next. No one except the president and the few officials with access to the NSA program can know how valuable such surveillance has been in protecting the nation.

You can read the entire article at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0512210142dec21,0,3553632.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed


BRING IT ON
December 21st, 2005

Just so we’re clear:

The leadership of the Democratic Party believes that when a sitting President of the United States commits perjury, openly admits to suborning perjury and obstructs justice, this does not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. And any suggestion otherwise is the practice of the politics of personal destruction.

The leadership of the Democratic Party further believes that air strikes ordered by a sitting President to attempt to deflect attention away from those crimes does not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, no matter how many innocent civilians those air strikes might kill.

On the other hand, a sitting President of the United States in wartime, who receives legal advice from government attorneys and consults with key members of the House and Senate to establish surveillance action against known agents of a group that weeks earlier had annihilated over 3,000 innocents on American soil, has committed an impeachable offense on its face and without question, and that this impeachable offense should be followed with a Senate conviction on the matter.

In the face of this bizarre world that the Democratic Party would like to construct, it is worthwhile asking whether this Republic would exist today if the sort of loyal opposition that currently sits in judgment on Capitol Hill had squatted there during the Civil War

You can read the entire commentary at
http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5091



Hubby, kids, and I are opening our gifts tonight before heading north to spend Christmas Eve/Christmas with family and friends.

I may check back later tonight . . .

[proud American in Canada]

Heading out to make a statement on the Patriot Act and the need for our nation's Senate to pass it again.

I'm just jumping in here, but let me say, Gretchen, that I loved that silhouette pic of the president. You can just feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, and his resoluteness in the face of that.

[MJY1288]

Great pics, I really like the picture of GWB shaking hands with the young Marine in his Dress Uniform

[W04Man]

nother morning bump. GWB's sincerity always brings me to tears...

Our President certainly does!