:: PROLEGOMENA ::

:: Friday, October 29 ::

HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF

Rebecca Hagelin writes about it, and uses a descritpion I have used, that the evil regime itself was a weapon of mass destruction. It's not just a metaphor:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/rebeccahagelin/rh20041029.shtml

:: michael parker Friday, October 29, 2004 [+] ::
...

BLOOD RUNNING IN THE STREETS OF AMERICA

A terrorist saying this is news? (Would the Left now agree that it is better to fight them over there, and to keep them hell out of our country?) During the Reagan Presidency, Col. Muammar Qadhafi threatened the same thing. This new terrorist is as about as original as John Kerry. No wonder ABC didn't think the CIA should see the whole thing.

:: michael parker Friday, October 29, 2004 [+] ::
...

TODAY IN HISTORY

I wonder how many people remember October as the day of the 1929 Stock Market crash. Consequencially, today is thought to be the anniversary of a great number of suicides. However, I cannot find an impressive list of financial titans tightening their own noose.

Sir Walter Raleigh and Joseph Pulitzer died on October 29 as well.

Raleigh said, "All men are evil and will declare themselves to be so when occasion is offered."

When he assumed ownership of the New York World, Pulitzer said, "There is room in this great and growing city for a journal that is not only cheap but bright, not only bright but large, not only large but truly democratic... that will expose all fraud and sham; fight all public evils and abuses; that will serve and battle for the people with earnest sincerity."
- - Too bad that's not the "Newspaper of Record"

Also, it is the aniversary of the binding and gagging of anti-war activist Bobby Seale, after he repeatedly shouted and insulted the judge and prosecution and disrupted the court proceedings.
- - Let me savor that for a minute....

:: michael parker Friday, October 29, 2004 [+] ::
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DIGESTIVE MALFUNCTION

I really didn't even know who she is until I saw this headline. I noticed at Google News that 658 news reports are published on the subject:

Ashlee Simpson takes lip sync blame

Simpson Appears on 'Today,' Denies Lip-Syncing

The gerund "syncing" sure does look funny when it is spelled-out, doesn't it?

My favorite headline:

ASHLEE'S HALF-ACID LIP-SYNC EXCUSE

It's not news, but then it is. The public is to blame for supporting high ticket prices and fake performances. I now wish I had read more into Elton John's recent Madonna-bashing, but I do have books to read...


:: michael parker Tuesday, October 26, 2004 [+] ::
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HOW TO E-MAIL WITH A LIBERAL

-----Original Message-----
From: JT
Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 1:51 PM

Quick note... Kathleen, Katie and JT went to AB Tech (local comm college) to view the "movie" that the Sinclair Monopoly put out to be televised.... could not believe the hatred, rude ness of the general crowd... several vets who DARED TO QUESTION were treated terribly, quite frightening... how divisive this administration is. enjoy the humor of the first line at least!!! Later, jt

Monopoly?

I have good news:

Sinclair owns 62 stations reaching only 24% of American houses, and none in the major metropolitan cities (unless St Louis is major).

The would-be viewers in those areas are not required to view.

They are allowed to change the channel.

"Divisive"? The Bush Administration did not produce the documentary any more than the Kerry campaign produced the ad comparing Bush to Adolf Hitler. (That was MoveOn.org)

more good news:

The documentary was produced by Carlton Sherwood, known for his Pulitzer Prize winning work investigating the Pauline Fathers' fund-raising scandal, and the Vatican cover-up. He also defended the Moonies as victims of religious bigotry. This is not the work of a conservative hack.

Vets "dared to question" what? If you mean Veterans for Peace were heckled, that cannot be blamed on Bush. You might blame the vets against Kerry who greatly outnumber those who support. Troop support is a powerfully passionate issue at the citizen level, so of course there was heckling.

It is reasonable to explore whether Kerry's Senate testimony was exaggerated, and if it was used against POW's by the enemy.

It is reasonable to ask why Kerry met with the enemy in Paris and explore the results of that meeting.

That was thirty years ago, yes, but this month Kerry carelessly insulted the head of the world's youngest (and very fragile) consensual government and our newest ally. He did so to score a political point against Bush. It is reasonable to question his current statesmanship.

Were you this agitated when CBS produced the forged documents?

-whenTom Brokaw and Peter Jennings defended Dan Rather's use of forged documents?

-when Rather blamed Bush for Presidential mismanagement in 1998?

-when MSNBC did the same?

-when Michael Moore said in an interview in Midtown Manhattan, two miles from ground zero, that there is no terrorist threat, and was subsequently awarded a seat in the DNC box with the Carters?

-when the NYT compared the WTC attacks to the rise of Pinochet in Chile?

-when CNN's Peter Arnett reported the false Operation Tailwind story?

-when Katie Couric connected the murder of Matthew Shepard to Christian outreach advertising?

:: michael parker Saturday, October 23, 2004 [+] ::
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MANLY DISPLAY

I wondered here yesterday if Edwards would be giving us an ostentatious heterosexual display to overpower the images of him fussing with his hair. Kerry took care of it with what Dick Cheney cleverly calls an October disguise. (Damn, it frustrates me when I could have thought of that but didn't.)

NPR this morning talked with best-ex-President Jimmy Carter and how he handled the Ayatollah and what he thinks the Founders got wrong. It was just riveting. You can listen by clicking:
Presidents and the Constitution: Jimmy Carter

Scroll down for related articles. Related, indeed:
President Carter Tries Hand at Fiction


:: michael parker Friday, October 22, 2004 [+] ::
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INFILTRATION!

via Alarming News via VodkaPundit via GayPatriot...

So I am reading Angels and Demons and can hardly do another thing. I am alomost totally wrapped up not just in the art and the mapping, but also in the infiltration of the Illuminati in the story, so this bit of little-known news has my interest. I had never heard of the Gay Patriot until this, and the post is impressive:

Log Cabin GOP Political Director Unmasked As Former Edwards Campaign Operative

I never liked jokes about the Log Cabin group. They represent free thinking. As Camille Paglia raged in Salon about truly anti-choice mainstream feminism and fascist gay activism and the pressures therein, I admire this group for not marching lock-step into the Democratic Party. Read the links in the post as well, particulary the numbers. If the writer's hunch is correct, this makes the Dems even dirtier when its comes to free thinking.

It also has me thinking:

But how could he resist? Edwards is soooooooooo handsome!

This has got me thinking back to Al Gore's ostentatious heterosexual display with the kiss he laid on Tipper at the DNC in 2000.

After the released video of Edwards's primping, his Breck Girl status, and this news... will the Democratic Party demand such a display from Edwards?

:: michael parker Thursday, October 21, 2004 [+] ::
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THIS IS NEWS?

"Analysis: Clinton eyes U.N. post"
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has set his sights on becoming U.N. secretary-general. A Clinton insider and a senior U.N. source have told United Press International the 56-year-old former president would like to be named leader of the world body when Kofi Annan's term ends early in 2006.

He is perfect for the job, meaning just as he ignored the obvious terrorist threat and just as he armed China against us, reminiscent of the UN's incapability to enforce its own Security Council resolutions and Kofi Annan's failure to be proactive with Rwanda, he would truly fit in there.

White House fundraising scandals during the Clinton Administration... Oil-for-Food kickbacks at the UN under Kofi's leadership... it makes so much sense.

Clinton blames 9-11 on the Crusades and Native American displacement... the UN votes the US off the Human rights committee while retaining China and Cuba.

Indeed, he is a qualified applicant.

:: michael parker Thursday, October 21, 2004 [+] ::
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IF THEY ARE DOING IT THERE, THEY ARE DOING IT HERE

Britain Charges Muslim Cleric Sought by U.S.
Published: October 20, 2004
LONDON, Oct. 19 - Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric who faces extradition to the United States, was charged by the British police on Tuesday with encouraging followers to murder Jews and other non-Muslims.

He fought the Soviets with our help, and now worked to fight us. Is there a word for gratitude in their vocabulary?

JUST LIKE THEY STILL DO IT IN SPAIN

Showing Spain that changing the government and pulling troops out of Iraq was not enough, the new message is that even prosecuting within Spain's own borders is not acceptable, either.

Spain arrests 8 in alleged plot against anti-terror court system

:: michael parker Wednesday, October 20, 2004 [+] ::
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UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT

13-year-old faces child pornography rap

LACEY, WA, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A 13-year-old boy in Washington State has been charged with posting sexually explicit pictures of himself on the Internet along with other kiddie porn.
. . .
The boy, who has not been identified because of his age, is being held without bail in a juvenile detention center. Sgt. John Didion of the Washington State Patrol told the newspaper that he is unusually young to be a suspect in a child pornography case, an area where most defendants are older than 25.

I was once visiting a house where the 4 and 7 year-old boys were well-known as complete brats. They grabbed a disposable camera and ran outside, where the older brother said, "Hey (name withheld to protect the juvenile), let's take pictures of our penises and our butts!" The elder brother dropped his pants, bent back to make the first picture really easy to take, turned, bent over, grabbed his cheeks, and pulled for easy proctography. They switched roles. The mother arrived at the scene half-way through the younger brother's posing. The entire event took less than half a minute.

I am sure the mother threw the camera away in case there was someone like Lacey, Washington's DA working at the photo lab.

Kids do stupid things. I know thirteen is older than seven, but the boy in the news story is still just thirteen. Held without bail?

On the other hand, I got a dirty joke book at that age, then another, then a third. I became obsessed with dirty and racial jokes until I got caught at school and connected with the books. The fright of being called to the office broke my obsession. This 13 year-old's obsession is a real highway to hell. Maybe what seems like overreaction by the prosecutor will break him before it's too late.

:: michael parker Wednesday, October 20, 2004 [+] ::
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BUSH KNEW!

First, he screws up the vaccine supply and

Woman awaiting flu shot falls, dies

now this:

Woman Waiting In Line For Oprah Show Dies

WWKD?

:: michael parker Saturday, October 16, 2004 [+] ::
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IRRELEVANT PRESIDENCY

Painful debate-watching was soothed by switching to Raiders of the Lost Ark on USA Network and to a documentary about the Sears Tower in Chicago on the History Channel.

I am grateful to have switched to the debate just in time to catch Kerry siting two major news organizations' opinions against Bush policy, and to catch the President slip in his sly un-remark about the reliability of those major news organizations.

Still, Kerry, amid all his intelligence, has without realizing made a very interesting case: we don't need a President. Kerry's campaign has been about bashing almost 100% of Bush's actions in office. (Now the President is responsible for college tuition and, say what? - flu vaccine!) My point is that amid this Kerry-alleged near-complete failure of the Bush Administration, somehow, the American flag is still on the pole. Somehow, Americans are still at work.

:: michael parker Thursday, October 14, 2004 [+] ::
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LOSING MY MIND

My mother is here in my house this morning, which means we have to watch the Today show and criticize Ann Curry's haircut, and then, God help me, watch that Regis show. Duran Duran is performing "Hungry Like the Wolf." It's funny how in Rock music, the standards of aging are so different. The Stones and Blondie definitely win, and the Psychedelic Furs are doing well. DD should have stayed home. My mother should have, too.

:: michael parker Wednesday, October 13, 2004 [+] ::
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Edwards Stem Cell Vision: 'We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases... When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.' Edwards made the unprecedented campaign promises during 30-minute speech at Newton High School gym in Newton, Iowa...

I bet he can't wait to sue them when they fail.

:: michael parker Tuesday, October 12, 2004 [+] ::
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CHRISTOPHER REEVE DEAD

I heard it when I woke up, thinking how I heard just late last week that he still labored to keep his body and muscles ready for when a cure arrived. That is faith worth copying. However, I still am not surprised that his body shut down.

Remembering when in 1996 at the DNC he was rolled out onto the stage with also-wheelchair-bound Jim Brady, I have made remarks from time to time about that DNC paralysis parade, but that got far overshadowed by the Paul Wellstone Memorial service years later. I am sorry he got used like that, but it must have helped the spinal research cause.

IN OTHER, MORE IMPORTANT NEWS:

Afghan Poll Crisis Subsides as Karzai Rivals Back Off

That's the place where we bombed them out of the stone age. Women there are now going to school, working, registering to vote, and voting. Critics may bitch about multiple voting, but that problem exists still in America, ironically by people who opposed Bush's military action ousting the Taliban.

Re-Elected Howard to Keep Troops in Iraq

Good. This means Spanish isn't contagious.

“I know a commander-in-chief when I see one and there’s only one on the ballot.”

Oh - I can't wait for Kerry to come back with, "But Wesley Clark says...!" and then add that Franks was coerced and bribed - afraid he would otherwise get fired like Shinseki.

U.S. shuts down British media Web sites

Because it's Indymedia, I am not as alarmed - they must have seriously crossed the line, more so than they did when they published and article blaming the Bali nightclub bombing on the Jews.

The importance of the following tidbit will be missed by most of the press, because cheering Taba terrorism three years after cheering the September 11 attacks is not crossing the line if Palestinians are the ones doing the cheering:

The Palestinian Authority condemned over the weekend the bombing attacks in Sinai, but many Palestinians voiced support for the bombings, saying they were a natural response to Israeli and American "crimes" in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Iraq.

:: michael parker Monday, October 11, 2004 [+] ::
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FROM TUNNELS TO TABA

The multiple bombings in the Sinai resorts prompted an interesting front page photo on yesterday's New York Times, one that actually elicited sympathy for the Israeli victims, in this case a bloody pregnant woman.

The article contained the mindblowing information that the authorities were seeing this a a terrorist attack - ya think?

A headline later in the day reported Egyptian resistance to Israeli medical teams:

Egypt was originally uncooperative, hampering Israeli efforts to assist in the rescue efforts, and one police official said that four valuable hours were lost as a result. By this morning, however, the situation had improved, and "we were allowed to bring in whatever forces and teams we wanted to," the official said.

Via LGF, DEBKA file reports:

Initial Egyptian investigation of quadruple car bombings at three Sinai sites Thursday night points to co-production orchestrated by Iran - to which explosives traced - organized by Hizballah and carried out by Saudi al Qaeda bomb-teams.

Iran has been listening to too much Kerry - how do you say "Bring it on!" in Farsi? Well, there will no need to say it if the Iranians were really a part of this. I anxiously await the arrival of the Israeli airborne reactor-demolition squad.

Oh - and this:

The Hizballah’s Sinai cell is part of the Palestinian international weapons smuggling network that has grown out of the Sinai-Gaza tunnel system and which now branches out to East Africa, Arabia, the Persian Gulf, Syria, Turkey and Chechnya.

This blog written in memory of tunnel-defender and would-be bulldozer blocker Rachel Corrie.

:: michael parker Saturday, October 09, 2004 [+] ::
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DAH BATES!

OK - I watched this one, but eliminated an annoying browser hijacker at the same time with the help of bazooka.com.

Bush is doing much better in this debate. He's absolutely right jabbing back with how Kerry has already shown he cannot build an alliance based on the stupid things he has said.

I watch this, understanding human nature... I know why people want this job, but I do not know how the hell they do it.

What - Bush owns a timber business? ... oh Bush just asked the same question.

Kerry decries labels.. HAHA.. just not the ones he takes from faded bumper stickers and other people's speeches as his own.

And lookit... Drudge has a memo from ABC and gosh, they sure went overboard with the aging process on this one.

Oh whatever, I finished a great counter-terrorism novel by Vince Flynn this afternoon, and now I am on to Angels and Demons, the Illuminati and their antimatter weapon. Feeling very sleepy...

:: michael parker Friday, October 08, 2004 [+] ::
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ECONOMIC GOOSEY-MAN?

There are far more important concerns going on these days, so what the hell is Schwarzenegger doing signing this?

The signing of a bill by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week banning the production and sale of foie gras in California was a watershed moment in a protracted battle of culinary politics. It has pitted animal rights supporters, including Sir Paul McCartney and Martin Sheen, against Guillermo Gonzalez, a 52-year-old businessman from El Salvador who is the state's lone producer of foie gras.

Especially, what the hell is he doing handing a legislative victory to people who do this?

Last year some activists vandalized a cafe in Sonoma owned by Mr. Gonzalez; Laurent Manrique, the chef of Aqua in San Francisco; and Didier Jaubert. They also damaged the men's homes.

Unless he is doing this to annoy the French, this is a bad move. What in the meat industry will be next?

:: michael parker Wednesday, October 06, 2004 [+] ::
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"PERHAPS YOU WEREN'T THERE TO VOTE FOR THAT."

Ever since Doug Giles wrote..

Take John Edwards, for instance: no real person smiles that much. Middle Americans don’t beam that bountifully. Neither Jesus nor kids stoned on expensive weed grin that much. Only avaricious ambulance chasing lawyers, running for vice president and trying to off set their Lurch-like presidential running mate, smile that much. This grinning Edwards reminds me of the overly gleeful guy who sold me a ’75 Firebird back in ’79, which turned out to be a complete piece of crap. And be sure of this: John Edwards is to Dick Cheney what Potsie was to the Fonz. The debates should prove interesting.

..I have been looking forward to last night.

However, I missed it. A new sports bar had an invitational opening last night. I write local wine and dine articles and therefore got invited. It was, wonderfully, an open bar until 9:30. On the TV screens were three sports, poker, and the Cheney/Edwards/Ifill Show, but without sound or closed-captioning. I stood with players from the local women's football team, the Asheville Assault, and was surprised to hear a lot of admiration for Vice President Cheney.

So I missed this debate and am glad for it. I simply didn't want to get angry last night. I learn from an angry Junk Yard Blog that Ifill misquoted Rumsfeld at the beginning of the debate. But mainly, I wanted to avoid having to listen to the former personal injury lawyer from North Carolina, Senator John Edwards, distort and defame.

I also knew that by missing the debate I would not have to cringe at the missed opportunities for Cheney to hit hard, devastating blows so deserved by the Democrats, particularly for disregarding our national security when allowing China access to our WMD technology and for allowing North Korea to become nuclear. I am sick of the Republican high road when they have so much ammo which needs no exagerration.

*** *** ***
Bush is plain-talking in Pennsylvania as I write. He just said he didn't pick Dick Cheney for his hair-do. I love the way he said hair-do in that Texan accent.
:: michael parker Wednesday, October 06, 2004 [+] ::
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A POLE YOU CAN TRUST

Drudge reports Polish retort:

"It is sad that a senator with 20 years of experience does not recognize Polish contribution. This is immoral," Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski told FACTS in an interview commenting on the US Presidential Debate.

Wow! He used the I-word. How about for the next debate we see a Kerry-Kwasniewski face-off?

:: michael parker Tuesday, October 05, 2004 [+] ::
...

SO KERRY DIDN'T HAVE A CHEAT SHEET

Click for the image:
"Mystery Solved" (Thanks to Allah)

Having run out of bumper sticker slogans and things Bush and Cheney have already said, Kerry simply borrowed a look from Bob Dole.

Sad thing about this is - it was worth the inquiry. It was believable where John Kerry is concerned. This threw me back to when it was alleged that the Clinton administration was granting plots in Arlington National Cemetery in exchange for donations. Not true, but not outrageous to suggest as possible for that administration to do.

:: michael parker Tuesday, October 05, 2004 [+] ::
...

One less reason for liberals to hate Israel
(and one more for the Muslims...):
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers traumatised by battle with the Palestinians have a new, unconventional weapon to exorcise their nightmares -- marijuana.

:: michael parker Tuesday, October 05, 2004 [+] ::
...

FOUR MORE YEARS

That is what it is going to take to get the instructions-challenged would-be voters in Florida to learn how to complete a form. This headline has me giggly:

Thousands in Florida may be surprised they can't vote Nov. 2

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Potentially tens of thousands of people who think they are registered to vote could be turned away at the polls Nov. 2 because their voter registration forms weren't completely filled out.

Secretary of State Glenda Hood said some groups registering voters are turning in application forms missing information, such as unchecked boxes asking whether applicants are citizens, mentally incompetent or felons.

I like seeing people encouraging other people to register and vote, but this is sad. Here we have registration activists recruiting people to vote who are not responsible enough to complete a form, and the recruiters themselves are not capable of checking the completeness of the form. It is not a chemistry test. (These are primarily the same people who cheered the no-postmark-disqualification of military absentee ballots in 2000.)

Of course the article mentions the usual voter fraud problems and allegations of unauthorized party-switching. Lawsuits have been filed in vain by voter advocacy groups because the law does not allow them to retreive the forms and take them back to the people who did not complete them to begin with.

"It seems like every time that we try to take steps to help voters to make sure they get on the rolls and to make sure they are protected, the state and the counties put obstacles in the way," said Browne.

This is a depressing vision for two reasons. These voting activists are unconcerned about the quality of the voter. I am sure many of them do their work out of genuinely good will, but stupid, uninformed voters are a huge problem. That is why they marched for a re-vote four years ago. The other problem is blaming the state. The true source of their frustration is the stupidity, the laziness of people who cannot or will not follow instructions on a simple form or connect the dots.

:: michael parker Tuesday, October 05, 2004 [+] ::
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THE ULTIMATE KERRY AD

E-mail this link to everybody you know. It takes a minute to load. While it is a parody, it is still very informative:

http://johnkerryads.websiteanimal.com/

:: michael parker Monday, October 04, 2004 [+] ::
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FIRST THINGS HEARD

It is a usual morning, waking up to NPR describing the latest in Iraqi explosions and numbers of civilian and soldier dead. Mornings are not what they used to be, with what was an obvious, pertubative obsession with prisoner hazing at Abu Ghraib. Perhaps NPR got a clue that the prison story was getting as boring as the false-Lazarus National Guard story. (Well, at least the re-hashing of that Guard story brought the forgers to the surface.)

Still, the current NPR reporting is not necessarily done to agitate. It is very real news, very sad and important. I said to a roommate in college back in 1991 that I thought all those people over there were animals and not worth our effort, but Frank corrected me, immediately, telling me that God certainly disagreed with me and valued all those people. It was a truth I couldn't deny.

This is surely something our current President believes as well, and it is a valuable point in debate which I do not hear: the Iraqi people are worth it. This is, ironically, a truly liberal point-of-view to be used against the political liberals currently vying for power.

Of course we are there to remove a threat first. We are there because we had to show the world we can do what the United Nations cannot: enforce the rules (another extremely valuable point not stressed in debate). The constantly slung-out slogans of fighting for freedom have been long lost on an already-free people so distracted by daily life.

The Iraqi people are worth it.
The UN cannot do it.
Repeat.

Noel at Sharp Knife wrote well on Saturday about another very important first:

Saturday, October 02, 2004
Who's on First?
THE 1st INFANTRY, OF COURSE.

Firemen, police and EMTs, as brave and dedicated as they are, are not our "first-responders". Our very first-responders are in uniform in Iraq and elsewhere.

They are giving and receiving fire halfway around the world, so that firemen here won't have to put out fires in the first place.

Our gratitude goes to all...

but First things--and first-responders--First.

Peggy Noonan in 2001 wrote similarly about the fire fighters who went in while everyone else was escaping the WTC. That post aptly justifies the passing of that baton.

:: michael parker Monday, October 04, 2004 [+] ::
...

HOME OFFICE RE-OPENS

Quitting a job is hard to do, but it had to happen a week ago and it has taken a week to even begin to think that my sleep may be restored to a normal cycle.

In the meantime, I have ignored most of the campaign, and did not have cable TV and internet restored to the house until yesterday, just in time for the debate..

..which I turned off almost immediately and instead watched Escape from New York, just two channels away on the American Movie Channel.

But yes, I would flip back to the debate only to get frustrated at my candidates number one problem: command of language.

There is something good here: while my fellow Bush-supporting friends wail at not having a great orator for President, didn't we have eight years of great speaking skills, in President Clinton, while he compromised our national security and ultimately got himself disbarred for what turned out to be his number one problem: command of honesty?

Bad talkers make bad liars.

Have you considered the most important words spoken by President Bush were his threat to the Taliban when he gave them 48 hours to hand over Osama bin Ladin?

These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. (Applause.) The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.

And the Taliban shared in their fate. That's not a command of language, that's a command of the situation.

:: michael parker Friday, October 01, 2004 [+] ::
...