Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 25 June 2006

Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread ~~Awards~~ notable posts ping list for 6/25/06

It is very important to me that I first explain what it is I think I'm doing when I participate in this weekly exercise. As the one doing the "awards" this week I first and foremost must emphasize that I don't think that my opinions of what is "worthy" have any more value than anyone else's opinions (well, there are a few posters I think I'm better than, but that's another story... and you know who you are!!!!! <g>).

I lurked on FR and particularly on this thread for quite some time before I ever signed up. I still lurked on this thread without posting even after signing up in 2003. I began participating here not that long ago and have truly found a place that satisfies my need for stimulating and informative discussion of the political events of importance each week. I want to thank everyone here for providing me that opportunity.

I must make the point here that Alas Babylon! has done a great service to all of us and to the entire world (literally) by setting the tone of this particular corner of FreeRepublic. It is such a special place for informative discussion of the issues being put forward by the media as well as those that they refuse to cover. We all owe him our thanks. Also, having had the pleasure of meeting him recently, I can confidently add that the man is such a mensch!

When RodGuy911 asked if I could fill in one week for the excellent work he had been doing posting a "Top 10" at the end of the weekly Sunday morning talk show thread I was a little overwhelmed. Not only was I in awe of the thread and the participants, I had come to count on his top 10 posts as a guide to searching out those posts that I might have missed. They may have been either too long or too short for careful scrutiny at the time and, I don't know about anyone else, but I am usually frantic to keep up with what is being posted and tend to scroll through the volume of posts more quickly than I should. I often miss lots of great posts in my attempt to keep up. RodGuy's work gave me a heads up for things that I might have missed, but should spend the time to go back and find. That proved very valuable to me on more than one occasion. I doubted very seriously that I was up to filling in, but what the hell?

I hope that I have acquitted myself adequately these few times that I have done this. I know that the others who have joined in what appears now to be a solid rotation have done remarkable work along the same lines as what I admired about RodGuy's posts. I always look to the awards as a "highlights," a ping list, if you will, to the posts on this thread that deserve our special attention each week. I do not view this as a contest, with winners and losers. The hardest part about this process for me, the times I have done it, is not including everything, for truly every post on this thread deserves attention (except for those rare few posters... and you know who you are... <g>). So, why am I subjecting you to this introspective codswollop?

A few weeks ago I included a particular regular participant in this thread in the awards for that week. They then expressed to me that they were concerned that this "honor" would offend others on the thread. They didn't want to participate in awards as they might offend others who were not included. I hope that I adequately explained to them then, in direct posts, that what I was trying to do was not pick out "better" posts for some sort of prize, but to identify for all of us posts that added a particular insight to the arguments that week, and I emphasized that this was only IMHO. I think I convinced them of the sincerity of my effort, but... and you knew there was a but... I am going to include that same individual in the so called awards this week and that presented me an ethical dilemma. I'm hoping that my explanation will assuage this persons' concerns and let them know that I am not doing this as some sort of contest.

I'm not providing "prizes" to "winners." I hope that I'm providing signposts to those interested in finding the most valuable posts this week (admittedly only my opinion). I state up front that my selections are personal and flawed, so no one should be concerned about any particular choices being viewed as better than any others, except as they choose to disagree with me directly, an exercise which I invite. The more people offering up pointers to valuable posts the better. This is merely my two cents worth on what was posted this week. My greatest hope is that I will single out one post that someone might have missed, for whatever reason, that will provide that special insight and make the difference in shaping these arguments we are so involved with.

Now, here is the first part of the "~~honorable mention~~" ping list for this weeks posts. These are no less valuable than the posts in the "top ten," which will follow. I just had to make some choices in order to provide some order. However, I have singled out the top ten because of issues, insights or links which I found particularly valuable to me. I hope that everyone will take the time to read all of the posts on this thread, but if I can be of assistance in pointing anyone to a post they may have missed then I have done what I set out to do (oh, if that isn't overly self important, I don't know what is! Please forgive me.. ;^>)

One final point, before I proceed. I'm going to shamelessly steal from a post by Alas Babylon! and appropriate the reference to his phrase the "Jedi Council of FreeRepublic." I trust that our hosts will be tolerant of my hubris, but I want to bestow this label on all of the participants on this regular thread, starting with Alas Babylon! and including all who participate or lurk here. I truly feel that this thread represents the best of what FreeRepublic is and can be.

These posts are in alphabetical order by the posters screen name

AliVeritas

#707, "Must Read re: NYTimes ... Time for Gonzales to Act ... " (very good blog post with link to legal arguments about prosecuting the NY Times ... many more posts by AliVeritas along this line... and many more valuable links - search them out - but to me this one is special)

Barset

#493, "There is a perfectly apt editorial cartoon in Investor's Business Daily of June 22, called 'Soldier's Burden.'" (see post #503 for link to cartoon provided by Peach, also the article excerpts at Cox and Forkum are really good)

beyond the sea

#403, "... (Anne Kornblut) said something so funny I was laughing out loud... It went something like (as she spoke in all seriousness), 'Everyone knows that Lieberman or any Democrat can't expect to win a DEMOCRAT primary running on a moral stance.' She basically said that no Democrat in a primary can win when standing onh morality..."
#536, "In their rancor against one of their own for (Lieberman's) "diversity", they prove how hypocritical they all are. A pox upon all of them...if they EVER get back in power, they'll kill us all...financially and bodily... "

BonnieJ

#515, "Gore is good for laughs anyway (NO laughs from or about Hillary, she's just not even likable enough to parody)...Like with Gore's recent statement that "the earth has a fever", that is hilarious. You'd think he was joking with some of this stuff but no...He's just being classic Al Gore!"

bray

#454, "Lieberman valued breathing too much to confront BJ! ..."
#541, "Never forget, what the TraitorcRats want for the Iraq War is Surrender in Disgrace. As in Vietnam when they came up with the phraseology Peace with Honor, they want Surrender in Disgrace for America and an end of our military industrial complex. If anyone needs proof just take a look at their biggest victory, our humiliating loss in Nam... "

Bulldaddy

#180. "I'll state a very obvious point here - all I need to know about a person's political philosophy is answered by one question: is the US at war?"
#258, "Powerline Blog highlighted this interesting observation last night that I think has a LOT of merit: ... <snip> What the NYT is doing IS blackmail." (note: I'm providing the link to the PowerLine post, An Offer We Can't Refuse? , which in turn points to Ace of Spades original post, instead of copying the full text - PH)

Carolinamom

#355, "Are those Florida dems under psychiatric care after the Kerry defeat still being treated?"

Chuck54

#247, "... Dumb as a box of rocks does not even begin to describe Juan this morning... He actually said the NYTimes helped the WOT by printing this SWIFT secret program."
#329, "FTN on and Schieffer has already listed all the Democrat talking points and mis-represented every last point made by Casey and the Iraqi authorities... Boxer and Lugar. Wild Thing and Sleepy Thing."
#353, "Both of these Loons on FTN think the Republicans cannot win by running on Iraq... They still think the Democrats will take back the House... November will be a great month for the Coroner and Undertaker business. Get your license now if you are studying either field."

dalight

#328, "Specter is the leader in the Senate of obstructing the US needs in fighting this war. Specter just said we must give New York Times a free pass for breaking the law based on the Supreme Court ruling on prior restraint... Prior restraint says that the government cannot act before the act to stop the press. It assumes that if the Press indeed is in violation of the law, the damage must be done first before something can be done. This allows the Press the choice of conscience and to take the risk of legal sanctions if indeed they choose to unjustifiably abuse the public trust... The Court insisted that the damage must be done before the state can act. Well now it is done. So it only follows that prosecutions should follow. Its silly to argue that because the Country is to have now ability to prevent Press organizations from compromising National Security, that once they have that the rule that prevented them from preventing the damage, then implies that we cannot hold these criminals to account."

dmw

#245, "Did anyone see David Gregory tell Tim on Meet the Press that "the president flew to Iraq after 'he killed Zarqawi'. He actually makes it sound as if Bush himself killed this terrorist."

edpc

#72, "Wow...what a lineup. Durbin has replaced Daschle as the pol who appears virtually every Sunday with a saddened, simpering commentary. Feingold is the epitome of the 'oily politician' cliche. He alone could solve the energy crisis with his own output. Biden's ignorance of foreign policy is only surpassed by his gift for condescending. Specter and Hagel. If I want to see RINOs, I'll watch The Discovery Channel. It's probably safer to tune out this week. I just enjoyed a great breakfast. I'd prefer to keep it down... " (note: good pictures, too - PH)

F.J. Mitchell

#636, "Somehow I don't believe that by 'A Free Press' our founding Fathers meant , free to aid and abet the enemy, free to lie both by omission and by twisting what is reported, free to become the most effective propaganda machine our enemies ever had... I have to believe that if our fore bear's were able to have a say today, a majority of those abusing the right to a free press, would be on trial for treason, rather than deceitfully and arrogantly abusing that right."

generationfixit

#456, "...I think we should use a new term for the Democrats cut and run ...... The Democrats want to ABORT IRAQ! They can't handle the responsibility and you know maybe Iraq is really an unwanted...country...why waste out time on something that may or may not turn out ....so the Dems say....lets Abort Iraq... "

greyfoxx39

#653, "... (The Democrats are hoping something terrible happens) They will do anything to deny W a legacy, in revenge for what the Republicans did to their loser idol, Clinton. A few thousand american lives? Worth it to them and the Clintonistas, because they believe it will put Hillary and her puppet-master Bill back in the White House for another glorious 8 years, and the media elite on the guest list for state dinners and romps in the Lincoln bedroom again."

Laverne

#130, "They just read my email on cpsan....since I"m a frequent caller, and they ask you not to call too often, I sent an email this time. My email was to Mr. Lichtblau asking him why american's should continue to provide tax dollars to NYCity in support of anti-terrorist activities, when the city's paper of record just reveals that information to the terrorists so they can plan around it to attack the city, and the country. Mr. Lichtblau's response: "good point" and then no other conversation on this topic. HA!"
#610, "After watching this morning on FNS, I sent (Specter) an email pleading with him to step down from his chairmanship of that committee. That he defended the NYTimes releasing this highly classified information, and not giving the benefit of the doubt to the administration anti-terrorism activities, it has become clear that Arlen is not the proper person to head the judiciary committee."

maica

#651, "... I heard the Karzai-Blitzer interview on the radio. It is very instructive to hear voices, instead of watching talking heads. Karzai sounded so strong and knowledgeable. It seemed like he wanted to reach into Wolfie's studio and smack him about the head and shoulders for the smarmy questions that he was forced to reply to."
#662, "... Don't you find it "interesting" that the Dems are coming out so strongly against Maliki's suggestion. They do everything they can to tie the hands of anyone trying to help Iraq, and when a suggestion that may really be of serious benefit to the country is offered, these dems feign "support" for the troops by throwing mud in the eye of al-Maliki... It seems to me that a whole lot of Confederate soldiers were given amnesty after April 9, 1865."

mainepatsfan

#4, "So last week Russert gave his entire show over to Murtha and this week he's doing the same thing with Feingold?! That's fair and balanced. /s"

Mo1

#89, link to GOP.COM ad cached on youtube.com, titled Harry Reid and The Democrats: Dishonest on Iraq (great catch)

norwaypinesavage

#109, "...It is very rare to see a real conservative on any of these shows. When they're there, they're mostly "balanced" by an opposing viewpoint, and usually outnumbered in their "balance". I'm not quite as pessimistic about the outcome of this kind of agenda driven show, however. Most times, when liberals simply speak, and particularly, as last week on MTP, when they're supported and encouraged by the host, they make fools of themselves. The vast bulk of America sees them for what they are and are not persuaded."

RAldrich

#21, "Congressman Peter King has just announced (on WABC radio's Religion on the Line Program) that when he comes on the FOX News Program with Chris Wallace he will call on the Attorney General to institute a criminal prosecution of the New York Times, under the Espionage Act and the Comint Act... Peter King is the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee." (note: posted before the shows early Sunday morning, very helpful heads up - PH)

rmgatto

#549, "Diana Irey is looking good. Really good. Seriously, I haven't heard anything about impact on voters so far. She is a sharp, accomplished speaker and sounds tough and coherent on Iraq and the WOT... Even though Murtha has been in office 32 years, I'll bet that the election boils down to a referendum on win or run in Iraq. It would be a great victory."

SE Mom

#35, "... even when I disagree with him I admire King, he's got brass... Speaking of which- have you guys seen this letter to the NYT'S? It's on Hugh's site- written by a soldier to the NYT's..though we ought not hold our breath waiting for it's publication there:... "
#70, "In case you haven't seen this yet- a thoughtful commentary by a new FReeper: " (link to thread The Separation of Press and State)
#154, "Levin is clever- he says the overwhelming evidence is that cilivians were killed at Haditha... He stresses overwhelming more than once. This is fascinating because we ALL KNOW civilians were killed at Haditha...what isn't clear is under what circumstances. Levin leaves it hanging out there."
#250, "Just when I thought it was unlikely Juan could expose his ignorance further...he comes up with this as an arguement why it's ok the NYT's exposed this program: ... Now- the terrorists can't use this anymore, so it's a good thing! ... This kind of logic is...??? (temporarily out of adjectives)"

Seattle Conservative

#473, "... (Pete King) definitely has a lot of contributions from various unions AND the trial lawyers' assn..."
#490, "Karzai was great! I didn't get to hear all of it, but I loved when he disputed Time. Something to the effect of they had it all wrong - they only come here for a day and go home and right a story. Things are different from what they said. He got Wolfie and Time in 1 swoop - HA!"

STARWISE

#558, "In the 'Broken Record' department, that old union tune keeps playing, and the mental disorder perpetuates: ... USW's 'Wellstone Award' to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Rep. John Conyers ..."

tarheelswamprat

#634, "...(The Iraqi mobile weapons lab) issue always puts me in rant mode because of the clumsy, stupid and dishonest way in which it was handled. The refusal of both sides to engage the matter with facts, logic and scientific analysis was utterly breathtaking. You would expect opponents of the weapons lab thesis to take this tack, but why the proponents who knew better allowed themselves to be steamrolled into docility is still a mystery to me. Here are two examples of this: ... 1. The Scientific Aspect: Molecular Permeation - The assertion of those who claimed the vehicles were merely used to store hydrogen for weather balloons is relatively easy to test. When a reactive gas such as hydrogen is stored under pressure in a metal container, some of the molecules of the gas permeate into the first few microns of the metal surface and react/bond with the metal molecules. If the metal container has been used to store hydrogen, metallurgical analysis of samples from the inside of the tank would show a higher level of hydrogen bonding than would samples from the outside of the tank.... Thus the questions with which 'our side' should have pounded the deniers include 'Were hydrogen molecular permeation analyses done on these vehicles?', 'If so, who performed those tests, and if not, why not?', and 'What were the results?' This last also should have been followed by a firm insistence on seeing the actual documentation of the tests and results, not mere acceptance of some talking head with an agenda's 'characterization' of the results. In other words, put up or shut up... 2. The Common Sense Aspect - If we accept for a moment the premise that the weather balloon thesis of these vehicles' purpose is correct, then consider the following: ... You're an Iraqi officer in command of the area in which these vehicles are located. It's early 2003 and tensions between Iraq and the US coalition are rising. The invasion seems imminent. Suddenly you get a call - it's started. The Americans are actually coming, the shooting has started, and some of your fellow officers are being killed. You ask yourself 'What can I do, what MUST I do?' After carefully considering your options you know what you have to do: ... Bury The Weather Balloon Trucks!..." (note: there's more to it, great post - PH)

68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub

#420, "**I received this via e-mail** ... The GOOD News in Iraq that the MSN does not want YOU to know! ... Above facts are verifiable on the Department of Defense web site.... PASS IT ON" (note: great list and great advice - PH)

Txsleuth

#519, "Wolf was trying to pit he and Pervez Musharraf, as having 'fights'...Karzai said NO... Wolf said that Afghanistan is falling apart re: the uproar over that accident weeks ago....Karzai said NO... Wolf was quoting a Newsweek article talking about no electricity, no commerce, blah, blah... Karzai said that Newsweek comes over for ONE DAY, and writes a negative article...and it is wrong... Wolf says that Bin Ladin, Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar are in Afghanistan...and Karzai said they most definitely are NOT in Afghanistan... Karzai DID say that they need a new tactic in the WOT..he said that these terrorists, (he considers al-Queda AND the Taliban, terrorists)..recruit from the young people that have lived hard..and think they have no future, yada, yada... Karzai says that he wants the Coalition to go after these camps/schools, that are taking these boys in and training them...rather than just waiting for the terrorists to attack and then killing them... I am not saying whether that is not being done or not.,..just saying what I can remember...it was a LONG interview....but, basically, Wolfie was trying to cause problems between the USA and Afghanistan...and Pakistan and Afghanistan...and Karzai didn't BITE... Karzai is a pretty savvy guy...and no doubt has seen the way the MEDIA and the Congress works re: propaganda and rhetoric...and is NOT going to act like a bumpkin when being interviewed by the likes of Wolf Blitzer."
#525, "... I just watched Kissinger and Albright...and all semblance of rational thinking was absent... Albright is just SO, SO obviously trying to push off any problem we have with N. Korea as Bush's fault...AND she kept saying over, and over...how she 'holds no thrift with Kim Jong Il'...?????" (note: further discussions determined the phrase was probably "holds no brief for" - PH)
#595, "Did you see the 'debate' on Fox News a few minutes ago between Karen Hannraty, Rep. vs. Robert Zimmerman, Dem.?? ... It was about the leak by the NYTimes... They were talking over each other, so I don't know exactly what was said...except at the very last... Zimmerman said that people should be MORE upset about who leaked to NYTimes..which would be true, except he said that they WON'T, because the leak came from the White House because we KNOW they leak because of the 'outing of Valerie Plame'....ughhhhhh"
#604, "... How about the NYTimes, LATimes (best friends of dems)...thinking WELL, we have been told to keep this secret, but if we announce this...it will take all of the heat off of the dems...and their idiocy... Also, finding that terrorist cell in Florida played into the Bush Administration's hand of NEEDING these intelligence programs... So...they expose it...to cover up for dems...and put critisizm on the REps?"
#611, "I think I know why Wolf Blitzer didn't ask the Oil Minister from Iraq about the oil production... They just had a blurb on Fox News that oil production in Iraq is at the rate it was under Saddam...LOL... CNN would NOT want that news to get out."

Top 10 for Sunday, June 25th, 2006

See disclaimer in previous post - this is a ping list of posts that are worthy of extra study, IMHO.

10^th Place - Miss Marple

#347, "Boxer thinks the North Korea problem exists because Bush was "obsessed" with Iraq. Lugar babbles about Clinton administration asking him to go and then North Korea called it off... This was a total waste of my time. Nothing newsworthy, nothing said that we have not heard, except for one thing:.. Boxer's emphasis on how the democrats "were on the same page as General Casey" indicates to me that this news was leaked to the NYT by a Congressional democrat for the exact purpose that Boxer used it for this morning."
#350, "LA Times guy on CBS says that now next week the President will get to explain why General Casey's timetable is not the same as the democrats' timetable... I WAS RIGHT. THIS IS A COORDINATED EFFORT."
#356, "Regarding the Iraq amnesty plan. Schaefer says that it was leaked to CBS, and before they could air it they denied it. Newsweek says it is true. So, Schaefer is going to believe Newsweek rather than the government of Iraq. And the Washington Post guy says that no matter what they say, they can't put the toothpaste back in the tube... In other words, we printed a lie and no matter how they try to deny it, we got people PO'd at Iraq... Gee, hese newspaper guys are so pathetic. They are hopefully speculating on Republicans losing seats... Now they are on to democrat presidential hopefuls. Pointing out that these people's positions are getting sealed in cement... On Republicans, of course they think McCain has an edge. No other Republican gets a mention... And that's it. Thank goodness, this is only a half-hour show! LOL!"
#460, "NASA director on Fox now. 'The shuttle is not as safe as we thought it was, it is more safe than the naysayers say it is.'"
#469, "After getting two children through the public schools (which in our area are excellent) I must say that the curriculum is woefully short on world history and geography. I myself had to learn where a whole bunch of "stans" were during the Afghanistan operation, but those were countries which were only provinces of the USSR when I was in school... I think the lack of education in geography is especially hurtful to our country. Geography gives you bearings in the world, so that you know when you hear "Indonesia" you can visualize jungles rather than the Arctic tundra. Without geographical knowledge, all of the names of countries are simply words."
#477, "Ashton Carter on Fox being interviewed on Fox by Brian Wilson. He is the one who said we should bomb the missile while it is waiting for launch. Doesn't believe the North Koreanas would start a war ove this... Absolute ignorance on parade. He is assuming that N. Korea thinks like normal folks."
#678, "Did you happen to see the segment on Michael Gerson? It was very interesting. One thing I heard him say that when they were discussing the AIDS program for Africa, the President asked him what he thought. He said, 'If this is doable and we do nothing, it would be a source of great shame.' ... Yes. Shame! Gerson and the President believe in shame. This is a GOOD thing, after the shameless years of the Clinton administration... Gerson is oe of the many quality people that President Bush has had working with him. This is the sign of a great president...the quality of people he surrounds himself with... Whoever follows President Bush will have some very large boots to fill, and I daresay Gerson is probably one of the greatest speechwriters of all time."

9^th Place - OldFriend

#384, "You have the situation in Bosnia exactly right... My son served in X42 regime during that period of time... He agrees with your assessment... To make matters worse, if that is possible, Weasley Clark dropped cluster bombs on civilians, bombed a civilian train, and bombed so much debris into the Danube that no commercial traffic could move goods to the people all along the Danube for the longest time. Causing terrible hardship the the civilian populations along the river. He bombed the water supply, the home heating oil supply, etc... Not a word from the media about those atrocities."
#452, "King is becoming more of a media prostitute than Schumer... King is on our radio programs just about every day... He is fully owned and operated by the union bosses here in NY... Ports, run by the union thugs... More money for first responders......IOW, money for union bosses in police and fire unions... With King it's always follow the campaign donations to see where he's coming from... It is in our own best interest not to get on the emotion driven bandwagon, no matter who is driving the wagon... I suspect, Warner, like Specter, has a dem on his speed dial... These old fools need to be sent back home, IOW, redeployed back to their own districts, PERMANENTLY."
#458, "Speaking of Goldman Sachs. I hope all our side is happy now. Goldman Sachs is head of the consortium taking over the Ports from the British firm now in charge."
#502, "Even the text books are biased. My daughter's AP history book had the Bay of Pigs fiasco as happening during the Eisenhower administration. No mention of Kennedy at all... I read a good part of that textbook. It's a good thing I was alive during most of the so called 'facts' they were presenting."
#505, "Since Menendez resides in the gutter he'll just have to put up with the revelation... He put his mistress on his payroll and lived with her while still married. He has some interesting weasel words explaining it all......LOL... Like McGreevy, Corslime, and Klinton, they have no personal integrity at all. Not to mention Toricelli and assorted other crooks in NJ"

8^th Place - MNJohnnie

#221, "... Murtha last week, Feingold this week. See Timmy is RACING for the bottom of the ratings. Wonder if they will be changing the name to Meet the DNC? It would be more intellectually honest."
#300, "... BAGHDAD, Iraq — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday offered an olive branch to insurgents who join in rebuilding Iraq and said lawmakers should set a timeline for the Iraqi military and police to take control of security throughout the country... The prime minister made no mention of any timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in a 24-point national reconciliation plan he presented to parliament... The plan would include an amnesty for insurgents and opposition figures who have not been involved in terrorist activities. Al-Maliki stressed that insurgent killers would not escape justice..." (from linked FoxNews article: Iraqi PM Offers Incentives for Rebuilding Help; U.S. Reportedly Plans Troop Drawdown)
#409, "... Boxer really is a very stupid person. We have 'Amnestied' people who have harmed our troops after every war we have ever fought. What does she think we are doing when we accept a surrender? Someone should ask one of these complete political bigots if that means they are advocating we NOT take prisoners anymore? What this "No Quarter" Democrats?"
#426, "See if we had any JOURNALISTS, as opposed to DNC Media whores, someone would ask Feingold to explain THIS document then. But of course they will just sit their and let him lie, lie, lie and lie... 'Every Year is Worse Than the Previous Year' ... Captured Internal Al-Qaeda Documentation of Failure from Iraq, Found April 16... A glance at the reality of Baghdad in light of the latest events ..."

7^th Place - Peach

#71, "Will even one Sunday morning host remind the Democrats that after Clinton signed the Iraqi Liberation Act in 1998, they were ALL concerned about Iraq's WMD program? Kerry even appeared on ABC with Cokie Roberts and urged regime change with Americans boots on the ground...." (with excellent quotes and excerpts from writings by Joe Lieberman, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara A. Milulski, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, Bob Graham, Harold Ford, Tom Lantos, Tom Harkin, Arlen Specter (RINOs count), Madeline Albright, Sandy Berger, Barbara Boxer, Robert Byrd, Wesley Clark, Jacques Chirac, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, William Cohen, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Bob Graham, Ted Kennedy, Carl Levin, Patty Murray, Nancy Pelosi and Scott Ritter)
#74, "Regarding Al Gore's movie about global warming:... 17,000 scientists to date have signed a petition disputing Gore's contention that global warming is human induced... The scientists further state that the earth goes through cycles and this is but one cycle that we've seen before. .." (link to thread "Al's Big Adventure": This summer's hottest hit)
#479, "This is the RNC's response to Russ Feingold's appearance on Meet the Press today... And I will note that Carl Levin said today that the troop deployment will be political and will not be based on what the military wants. Levin further said troop deployment SHOULD be based on what the military wants... This is contrary to his other statements. The administration has always said that we would draw down as the Iraqi military geared up and that we would listen to the generals on the ground."
#503, "The cartoon can be viewed here:... " (in response to post 493 by Barset)

6^th Place - TexasPatriot8

#360, "I could only stand to watch Meet The Press for a few seconds and I just couldn't take Feingolds lies. Now the dems want us to leave Iraq and go to Somalia because AL Qaeda is there now. Well there aren't more of them in Somalia than in Iraq! I've heard this weak argument the past couple weeks and it's already old... Somalia has no infra structure to work with, and is full of people who don't want a centralized government and don't want a democracy because they all want to be in control themselves. And if we do leave Iraq and go to Somalia, how long would we be there before the Democrats start crying we have to get out because we're losing too many troops? I mean, they seem to have this dillusion that you aren't winning a war unless you lose NO troops and the whole world approves and likes you... The Democrats are genetically incapable of drawing a line in the sand and saying 'THIS FAR AND NO FURTHER!', and right now, THAT is what is needed. Leaving Iraq would prove nothing, and in time, wherever we go after leaving Iraq, moving the military out of there and into Afghanistan, or to the Sudan or Somalia, the Democrats would eventually by demanding we withdraw from there. All the while, they say not a peep about withdrawing from Japan or Germany or South Korea or Bosnia, since those were democrat President deployments. Especially Bosnia. Ten years next year we've been there and the democrats don't seem to want to pull out of there. Typical democrat double standard. Stay where you're not needed, leave where you are. But then that's democrats in general. Always wanting to go where they're not wanted or needed."
#377, "If you're a democrat now a days, everything is Bush's fault. What I know about Bosnia is this; ... The human rights violations that were supposedly going on there were blown way out of perportion compared to what was actually found. A few thousand compared to tens of thousands "reported", and the things the Serbs did to the Muslim Croats and Bosnians, they learned from those same Muslims when they did those things to the Serbs years before, the Serbs were only handing out payback, but as is the case with Kofi Anans Muslim controlled U.N., no one does anything when it's Christians being slaughtered, but let the Christians fight back and kill Muslims, and HEY WAIT!!! Time for the U.S. to put a stop to this... Like in Rwanda. The U.N. disarms the Christians in the South, leaving the Muslims in the north armed, and then they later slaughter over a million Christians in the South, and the U.N. does NOTHING. Bosnia is that same kind of joke. The U.S. was used by Clinton to be the blind teacher to punnishes the student to hit back at the bully who hit them first. That's what we did in Bosnia." (see also posts 384 by OldFriend and 432 by TexasPatriot8)
#417, "I wish someone on FNS would have mentioned the fact that we wouldn't have captured the seven muslim terrorists in Miami if not for the NSA Wire Tapping program. That's a FACT the FBI has made clear, by saying HOW they caught these guys. If not for the NSA program that Bush autorized, the Sears Tower would likely be a memory sometime the next few months. Undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey made that fact clear Friday night on the Lehrer News Hour."
#432, "... It's a joke, and like all liberals, Wes Clark got off scott, and then comes home and blames Bush for everything. Clark is joke and it's a travesty that he ever reached the rank of Gereral. I've heard MANY officers that served with him over the years say what a fool he was and how incompetant he always has been. No surprise Clinton put Clark in charge of Bosnia. A slut putting a boob in charge of a war."
#494, "... It's so frustrating! If Clinton focused as much on National Security and the safety of our Military and maintaining it, as he did his fly, much of the trouble we're going through today wouldn't have been necessary."

5^th Place - rodguy911

#55, "Criminal prosecution of the NYT This is a great thing, the NYT needs to be sued/prosecuted. It will be tied up in court forever but finally it would send a message to the socialist media, get on our side or get the hell out...."
#65, "Good politicians never deal with questions they don't already have the answers to. It's the same with the Sunday drivebys... These guys they put on over and over basically offer up nothing new. The fat tim's, stuffys, already know what will be said and how that message will defend or help the left since that's what it is all about!... The correction, if there is any, is left to us. We are the keepers of truth."
#111, "We need tee-shirts that say: Freerepublic.com--the ultimate lie detectors."
#332, "Poor Liberman he actually thought he could maintain a principle or two in the rat party,actually stand for something,I guess they showed him, it's their way or no way."
#480, "Just listened to feingold on MTP. He's definitely running for VP... He triangulates as well as Hillary. Problem is that she really does not need him. He can't help her enough areas she is weak--the south, elsewhere... Feingold counts on sounding good, he sounds authoritatively.Some people will actually believe some of what he says. But the truth is he really stands for what most dems stand for; expedience. Whatever works at the time is fine with him, as well as most dems."
#657, "I heard all that, it was awesome. Wolffie must have been trying to hide under the table as the answer to his question kept getting worse and worse and worse for CNX types... First the oil minister said "yeah wolfie we just set a record this month" by the time he was through he was telling Woolfie that Iraq's plans ware to supersede the Saudis by 2016! ... I could just imagine woolfie trying to dial up the limo to take him home immediately if not sooner."

4^th place - Fishtalk

What a wonderful post! Truly one of the best posts I've seen in quite some time. A "gem."

#354, "Good morning fine people, ladies and gems, AB... I am watching Russ Feingold on MTP and first thing I begin to curse. Only nice curse words though... WHY, please tell me WHY, are these IDIOTS constantly on MPT? Last week we had crazy Murtha and his 'Okinawa' plan. Now Russ Feingold... I would suggest that MTP is one of the few political talk shows many average Americans watch, as opposed to political junkees like us... And THESE people are who they see...Murtha and Feingold. Who are, I hasten to add, hardly indicative of a) what average Americans think of the war and b) even what the average congress critter thinks of the war... witness last week's votes. Not to mention the constant refrain that 'this administration did a terrible job of running this war'... This administration folks, no matter what criticisms you may levy against various policies, has done a WONDERFUL job on this war. They sucessfully invaded with little loss of life, let's get real. They're dealing with the insurgency, the Iraqis have voted three times, they've organized a new government, Zarqawi is dead. And we have NOT been attacked here in the U.S. since 9-11. Not to mention the finding of those secret terrorist cells in Canada and recently in Florida... Why do the LIARS always get time on MTP? Even Russert told Feingold that he only got 13 frigging votes on the "cut and run" ammendment. Feingold said "those aren't American votes"... Someone needs to tell Feingold that THEY ARE OUR REPRESENTATIVES! American people do not, perhaps Feingold doesn't know this, vote directly on legislative issues; we elect representatives to do that... Then Feingold says, hold my temper for me a minute, that 'the Democratic party IS the American people'. I am not making this up... I don't care if kooks have an opinion. But the kooks are getting waaaaaay more representation on MTP than they deserve. Sure MTP has to know they're not being fair and balanced with constantly having nuts on the show... Okay, I'm done."

Third Place - Morgan in Denver

Great posts again this week, including the priceless observation in #57 that the more these shows are dominated by the Democrat "spokesmen" the more they make our points for us, just by being themselves.

#57, "... I do think days like today can turn out well. For example, Levin and Durbin will reaffirm their far-left credentials and with any luck Durbin will embarrass himself, again. Albright is always a great reminder of just how bad the Clinton administration really was... I am trying to stop thinking every one of these shows is going to automatically be bad because of the same old guests. Sometimes, they prove our point of how badly Democrats would be were they in charge of anything."
#64, "It proves how far left the Democrats are today when they complain about the MSM being too conservative. Then, they use the Clinton scandals as the yardstick as they complain about how we can't let it go. LOL"
#446, "FNS was its usual well done program this morning. Every guest and panelist performed as expected, with the exception of Warner who seemed worse than usual... Levin, wants it both ways. Cut & Run along with We Told You So. Tommy Frank said we would actively be in Iraq approximately 5 years, followed by a presence there of probably around ten more years. President Bush alluded to a similar timeline as the Iraqi government was established and the Iraqi police and military taking over duties the US military was doing. All of this is progressing along the lines set forth by President Bush, General Franks and statements by both the US military in Iraq and the new Iraqi government... Warner, poor representative even if he is the committee head. (The Peter Principle is alive and well.) ... Specter, said the Senate would not hold hearings based on one newspaper account. Sorry NY Times, you’re not important enough to cause hearings... King: He wants to prosecute the NY Times. Sounds like bluster more than a serious, well thought out accusation. Immigration? Falls into line as opposed to amnesty and wants to protect borders. Wants hearings. Insists on secure borders first (YEA!) and crack down on employers (YEA!). King also admits he is poll driven. Not the preferred response from a responsible GOP representative... Brit Hume: Prosecuting the NY Times can’t be prosecuted saying it’s 'just not possible.'... YEA! Brit: The future drawdown is exactly what has been said over and over, expected and anticipated. This in NOT news! Even Mara admitted the Democrats are only looking of political points. Of course, Juan Williams equates any movement to political timing; but Juan’s opinion is just Democrat talking points cover for what’s going to happen anyway."
#620, "The High Hopes song came to mind reading this... 'Oops, there goes another talking point rant...' ... (Wish I had a graphic. LOL)"
#671, "The Democrats are totally invested in: President Bush failures, the military failures; economic failure and failure in Iraq and Afghanistan... IF the USA were to win any aspect of these responsibilities that government is responsible for, they lose. So, in order for them to be elected to run the country they must have failure to justify the public voting for them... I've said it before. If you were a country in trouble, who would you call? The UN? NATO? France? China? Russia? Or, the USA? ... If you are serious about winning militarily or economically, the USA is the only option that guarantees your winning. Only the USA, both economically and militarily, is proven to be capable and trustworthy enough to save you... That being said, I would include the UK and Australia to a large degree. Neither is interested in imperalism. Either would work unless the threat was larger than what they could handle. With the USA, I cannot imagine that limit."
#680, "I agree with you. I saved the column below for this very reason. Few, other than Freepers and activists, will agree with the conclusion but I believe it. History will be the final judge but every indication seems to point to this ultimately being true. ... George W. Bush -- grand strategist ... By Tony Blankley ... THE WASHINGTON TIMES ... Published February 11, 2004 ... The Boston Globe -- the respected, liberal newspaper owned by the New York Times -- ran an article last week that Bush critics may wish to read carefully. It is a report on a new book that argues that President Bush has developed and is ably implementing only the third American grand strategy in our history.... " (long article, but great - read the whole thing)

Second Place - Alas Babylon!

AB! doesn't usually participate as much in the thread as he did this week, and these highlights of his posts should give you an idea of how on fire he was. Plus, he coined the phrase "the Jedi Council of FreeRepublic!" That's a keeper!

#38, "... Let's also consider who is on these shows, and what it says about their agenda, both the guest and the show host/producer..." (Excellent analysis AB! - There's lot's more, read the whole thing)
#291, "... MATT COOPER WAS FIRED!!! SING IT! MR. MANDY GRUNWALD (Hillary's COS) IS CANNED! MATT LIED, LIBBY TRIED!"
#302, "You know Peach, as a retired military person, I'd actually agree to give the insurgents amnesty if they'd lay down their arms and surrender... Our military has always graciously accepted the surrender of its enemies at hostilities end. War crimes trials and (pre-hostilities cease fire) calls for unconditional surrender, IMHO, just serve to harden the enemies resistance and prolong the fighting to no good end. Yes, some enemies need to be beat into the mud, but even then, once they surrender we can do that sort of thing as required... All the finger pointing and such can be sorted out after the surrender. Part of the terms, when they approach with their white flag, is, of course, used to get those accused of the more heinous crimes into our hands for "processing" later. There's no need to show our hand in any case until we play it out."
#306, "Snugs, Whitehouse.com wasn't much different than Whitehouse.gov during the period Jan. 1993-Jan. 2001... Same smut, different top-level domain."
#319, "See my post # 38. The producers and hosts of the shows DO NOT want real conservatives on their shows. They have an agenda, Bulldaddy, and Sessions (my great Senator!), Cornyn, Santorum, etc, etc, do not help that agenda... I've been posting this thread every Sunday since 1999, and it's been this way since then. The drive-by media use the Sunday shows not to inform the nation as to what's going on, but to define the issues they want the way they want them defined... Our thread is our challenge to them. They've been figured out. Pray that we'll have an impact with the public at large, God willing."
#529, "... Y'all are like the Jedi Council of Free Republic."

First Place - anita

Always insightful and valuable posts, but this week anita added two potentially explosive bits of information. The first might link Democrat (Kerry) members of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel's staff to the treasonous leaks to the New York Times about the NSA and SWIFT programs. These leaks are designed to thwart President Bush's attempts to protect the American people and they appear to have been made for purely political purposes. Will Hagel's ambitions endanger our country, in fact all of human civilization? This is important, folks. Also, this weeks "media nuggets" post, which is always one of the Sunday thread highlights, has a very significant tidbit about Matt Cooper, the main accuser of "Scooter" Libby. It concerns the apparent collapse of his credibility, which not only appears to have lead to the dismissal of any possible charges against Karl Rove but should also lead to the dismissal of charges against Libby. This is an important week for anita, FR and the Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread. Remember these posts, folks. This may be a "Buckhead" moment.

#39, "... Nowadays, the requirement to be a guest on MTP is to have an anti-war position. Feingold meets that ofcourse, but Political Pundit Larry Sabato said that .. Feingold can't win dem.primary. ... Will Russert ask him about that?"
#45, "Did you say Hagel? Is Chuck Hagel really a republican?" (link is to an article in NRO by Byron York titled: The Kerry Campaigner on the Republican Staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee ... It's real and the staffer works for Hagel.)
#118, "This sunday's Media Nuggets..." (especially good ones this week)
#523, great picture of Madeline Albright toasting Kim Jung Il (with a simpering grin on her face)

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