Posted on 02/19/2006 5:03:51 AM PST by Alas Babylon!
The Talk Shows
Sunday, February 19th, 2006
Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:
FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo.
MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
THIS WEEK (ABC): Chertoff; Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.; basketball player Shaquille O'Neal.
LATE EDITION (CNN) : Chertoff; British ambassador to the United States David Manning, German ambassador to the U.S. Wolfgang Ischinger and French ambassador to the U.S. Jean-David Levitte; retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, formerly in charge of Iraqi army training.
but then you went and made it all red.
take pity on a poor blind man, for the love of all that's holy!
(this from someone that has posted more than a few really big blinking red comments on threads in my time)
LOL!
Thanks for sending those things to the troops for me...
drive safe and get some rest....
and YES- thanks to Phsstpok!
The MSM (e.g., NY and/or LA Slimes) didn't cover the gore story, but at least there were a few articles on it. I almost always enjoy Taranto and Cal Thomas
Our Friend Al Gore
Opinion Journal ^ | February 13, 2006 | James Taranto
Posted on 02/13/2006 11:31:23 AM PST by Quilla
The man who came within a hair's breadth of the presidency in 2000 is denouncing his own government on foreign soil, the Associated Press reports:
Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.
Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.
"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."
There is a comical element to this, as Glenn Reynolds notes: "Only Al Gore could come up with the idea of criticizing Bush for not sucking up to the Saudis enough. Sigh."
Heh. Indeed. But blogger "TigerHawk" makes some serious points:
This is asinine both substantively and procedurally.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ..."
Here is the rest of the article:
This is asinine both substantively and procedurally.
"Substantively, the idea that cracking down on Saudi visa applications is "playing into al Qaeda's hands" is laughable. Had we scrutinized Saudi visas a little more carefully in 2001, thousands of Americans who died on September 11 that year might well have lived. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on that day were Saudi nationals. If we had denied some or all of them visas, exactly how would that have "played into al Qaeda's hands"? . . .
Procedurally, Gore's speech is repugnant. It is one thing to say such things to an American audience in an effort to change our policy. . . . It is, however, another thing entirely to travel to a foreign country that features pivotally in the war of our generation for the purpose of denouncing American policies in front of the affected foreign audience. It is especially problematic to mess with Saudi political opinions, which are subject to intensive influence and coercion by internal actors and the United States, al Qaeda, and Iran, among other powers. Supposing that some Saudis were inclined to be angry over the American visa policy, won't they be more angry after Al Gore has told them that they're being humiliated? How is that helpful?
Finally, Gore's outrage at the American treatment of Arab and Muslim captives may be genuine, and it may even be worthy of expression in the United States, where we aspire to do better than press accounts suggest we have done. But whatever nasty things we have done in exceptional cases in time of war, they pale in comparison to the standard operating procedure in Saudi Arabia. So this is what Gore has done: he has traveled to Jiddah to explain to the elites of an ugly and tyrannical regime that the big problem in the world isn't the oppression of Arabs by Arabs throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but the mistreatment of a few hundred Arabs in the United States. This is like visiting Moscow in 1970 and denouncing the United States in front of a bunch of Communist Party deputies for the killings at Kent State. . . .
There is simply no defense for what Gore has done here, for he is deliberately undermining the United States during a time of war, in a part of the world crucial to our success in that war, in front of an audience that does not vote in American elections. Gore's speech is both destructive and disloyal, not because of its content--which is as silly as it is subversive--but because of its location and its intended audience.
The only consolation is that Gore likely would have done a lot more damage had he spent four years in the White House. And given the precedent set by Jimmy Carter, it isn't hard to imagine Gore as an embittered one-term ex-president giving the same speech in Jeddah."
http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110007961
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1577708/posts
Should we prosecute sedition?
Feb 15, 2006
by Ben Shapiro ( bio | archive | contact )
Sunday, former Vice President Al Gore spoke before the Jiddah Economic Forum. He told the mostly Saudi audience that the United States had committed "terrible atrocities" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He stated that Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and detained in "unforgivable conditions." He criticized America's new immigration policy, which more carefully scrutinizes Saudi visas, explaining, "The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake." Finally, he concluded, "There have been terrible abuses, and it's wrong. … I want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."
These are outrageous statements. And the silence from the left is deafening. The Democratic National Committee told me that they had not released a statement regarding Gore's speech and had no plans to do so. The New York Times editorial board, the official outlet of the American left, wrote nary a word about the speech.
It is now considered bad form to criticize those who commit seditious acts against the United States. Challenging the patriotism of a traitor draws more ire than engaging in treasonable activities. Calling out those who undermine our nation creates more of a backlash than actually undermining our nation.
Read more at:
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/townhall.comeditors/2006/02/17/186841.html
Al Gore's diminished capacity
Townhall.com ^ | 17 February 2006 | Cal Thomas
Posted on 02/17/2006 1:15:49 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
The more Al Gore opens his mouth, the more grateful Americans should be that he didn't win the presidency in 2000. Normally his rants sound like sour grapes and can be ignored, or relegated to the Jimmy Carter school of bitterness, but not lately.
Last Sunday, Gore spoke to the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia. He trashed his country on the soil of one of the most repressive regimes on earth - a monarchy that incubated 15 of the 19 hijackers who killed 3,000 of his fellow citizens on Sept. 11, 2001, and is the home country of Osama bin Laden.
If precedent held, Gore was paid a substantial fee for his remarks. It was money well spent for propagandists and jihadists, who will make frequent use of his comments on Al-Jazeera and other Arab media to keep the anti-American pot boiling.
Gore told his audience, many of whom have been educated at American universities, that after 9/11 Arabs in the United States were "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."
According to several official investigations into 9/11, at least three of the hijackers overstayed their non-immigrant visas and/or claimed to be students but never registered for any classes. That such behavior might have properly interested immigration and law enforcement authorities apparently escaped the former vice president.
Gore also claimed there were "terrible abuses" of the detainees, but he failed to provide any examples, and media calls to his office produced none. Gore added that the Bush administration is playing into the hands of al-Qaida by routinely blocking visa applications from Saudis: "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."
Gore has completely embraced the far left's creed that Bush is at least as evil as the jihadists. That Gore has "lost it" is evident from his personal attacks on the president, whom he has called "the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon" and a man who "has brought deep dishonor to our country." Gore has called the president a "moral coward" and referred to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse as "the Bush Gulag." He has accused the administration of an alliance with "digital brownshirts," called the administration "simultaneously dishonest and incompetent," and said the president is "out of touch with reality."
Even allowing for excesses of political rhetoric, such comments are way over extreme.
Gore is not Michael Moore, or Jesse Jackson. He is a military veteran, a former member of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, a vice president and nearly president of the United States. His words carry weight, and they will be quoted in ways and in places that will bring harm to his country, which is bigger than any president or administration. Perhaps he needs to take an anger management class or sit on Dr. Phil's couch, where he could channel all of that negative energy into something positive.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580315/posts
Kathleen Parker: Al Gore exercises his right to be a fool
Manchester Union Leader ^ | February 17, 2006 | Kathleen Parker
Posted on 02/17/2006 4:00:46 AM PST by billorites
"Were I an Arab-American detained for no good reason and denied my civil rights because of my ethnicity, I’d be furious. I’d raise Cain, write op-eds and maybe even file a lawsuit. And then, very quietly, I’d thank Allah that I live in the U.S., where such protests are encouraged and where a citizen can sue his own government.
However much we might wish otherwise, we’re locked into this defensive mode for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, everyone is entitled to think and say what he pleases. The same free speech that permits dissent — and controversial cartoons — also allows fools to out themselves.
Surely even the Saudis see the true picture — that Al Gore is a bitter politician who, sadly, seems to be one slice short of a loaf these days."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580355/posts
EDITORIAL: What is Al Gore thinking?
Las Vegas Review-Journal ^ | Feb. 17, 2006 | EDITORIAL
Posted on 02/17/2006 8:41:35 AM PST by george76
Comments in Middle East border on bizarre...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580537/posts
Thank goodness he isn't president (al-Gore)
The Washington Observer-Reporter ^ | 2-17-06 | Lead Editorial
Posted on 02/17/2006 2:42:07 PM PST by smoothsailing
Thank goodness he isn't president
Friday, February 17, 2006
Al Gore continues to give us reasons to give thanks that he was not elected president in 2000.
Last month, he told an audience in Washington, D.C., that President Bush "has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently" and "is a threat to the very structure of our government." He called for hearings into the "serious allegations of criminal behavior" on the part of President Bush.
Gore previously accused Bush of operating "a gulag" and of bringing "deep dishonor to our country."
Using this kind of intemperate rhetoric at home is bad enough, but Gore continued it this month in, of all places, Saudi Arabia. Speaking at an economic forum, he claimed that after the Sept.11 attacks, Arabs in the United States were "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."
Gee, we spent most of 2004 listening to charges that the attacks were successful because the Bush administration wasn't attentive enough to Arabs who were in this country illegally. (That includes at least three of the hijackers.)
One of the staples of Bush-bashing is the claim that he, like his father, is too cozy with the Saudis because they have all that oil. Remember the "scandal" about a group of Saudi women, many of them related to Osama bin Laden, who were allowed to fly home several days after the attacks. The implication was that Bush should have ordered them held in custody, although it was never specified on what grounds.
Bush, we have been told, seems oblivious to the fact Saudi Arabia is one of the most repressive nations in the world and was the home country of 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. Now, we have Gore telling the Saudis how repressive the United States is and apologizing because we were too diligent in trying to prevent another attack -- all the while providing quotes that will be disseminated to Muslim extremists all over the Middle East.
But it's a free country, even if Saudi Arabia isn't, and Gore can spout off all he wants. We're just lucky he can't do it from the White House.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580782/posts
The Shame Of Al Gore (Only a special breed of demons, apparently, can explain him.)
Investor's Business Daily via Yahoo ^ | 2/13/06
Posted on 02/18/2006 12:03:41 PM PST by Libloather
Edited on 02/18/2006 12:16:08 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
Leadership: What possesses a former vice president of the U.S. to travel to the birthplace of Islamist terrorism and denounce his country? Only a special breed of demons, apparently, can explain Al Gore.
The chief demon, of course, surely must be Gore's continuing quest for the presidency. Embittered he may well be by his loss of the highest office six years ago. But showing such supreme disloyalty to his country, as he did in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, cannot be condoned as an honorable means of pursuing the prize once more.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1581242/posts
These are the lyrics to the show stopper from Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of The Opera. I think there's LOTS of opportunities for parody based on MoDo's snide little remark. Perhaps "Music of Iraq" or even "Music of the hunt" with shotgun blasts as punctuation? (from Metro Lyrics)
Music of the Night - Phantom Of The Opera
(Phantom Solo)
Night-time sharpens; Heightens each sensation.
Darkness, stirs and wakes imagination.
Silently the senses abandon their defenses.
Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor.
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender.
Turn your face away
from the garish light of day
turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light.
And listen to the music of the night...
Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams.
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before.
Close your eyes, let your spirit
start to soar!
And you'll live as you've
never lived before...
Softly, deftly music shall surround you, feel it, hear it, closing in around you you.
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness which you know you cannot fight, the darkness of the music of the night.
Let your mind start to journey though a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be!
Only then can you belong to me...
Floating, falling; Sweet intoxication,
Touch me, trust me; Savor each sensation.
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in.
To the power of the music that I write,
The power of the music of the night!
You alone can make my song take flight,
Help me make the music of the night....
I sure am glad to see you posting...
Fox was showing all of the powerlines down in the northeast..and I thought maybe you had lost electricity.
Can you imagine if a Republican made those comments?
My son met Cheney in Iraq. He said that he had a good feeling about him when he met him and that he was genuine.
The written press is setting Cheney as their agenda for the coming week. Once again, Able Danger, WMD's, etc., go uncovered, for anothe week, in all the doctors offices of the nation.
I am going to watch some TV now thanks for the company, freep me when you are going to post the winners phsstpok.
As always thank to all for the company see you next week or at award time
All the best
Eleanor
Fox News just had a "debate" about this port story, with Rich Masters for the dems and some guy I haven't seen for the Republicans...
They started out saying that Bush SHOULD have gone to Congress and explained the deal to them...so they would know what was going to happen...
BUT, the Fox chick asked THE question to Masters...she asked him "how can we be certain that those containers are safe that are coming into our ports"...totally NOT the subject...
Anyway, Masters jumped right on that one...and said it is a disaster that our ports are NOT safe...because of lax container inspection....grrrrrrrrrrr
and even the Republican did NOT point out that these containers are inspected to a certain extent...and our port security starts from the port that they begin from NOT once they arrive here...
PLUS the cost and time delay of inspecting each container is NOT feasible...
Did the 9/11 or first WTC attackers use our port's containers to enter this country??? /s
Great work, johnnie....I am very impressed...you don't toot your own horn, do you???
Keep up the good work!
But, I think you are wrong..I think they are grateful to hear from you or anyone...they need to hear from all of us.
Yup! Bravo!!!!!
The MSM can STFU!
Thank goodness I don't have a doctor's appointment then>>
LOL
Thanks for the concern.. we have power..just been busy with other stuff today..%$#%&*^$%*(_) income taxes...or as I refer to it, my annual efforts in "creative writing.."
LOL>...we haven't even started our yet...
Procrastination is a family trait...
>>It's pretty obvious that MoDo has "Had a little work done", isn't it??
Looks like Mary Matalin has had a lot of work done. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." :)
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