AP writer not too thrilled by Huckabee's flip-flop press conference

Ouch!

Mike Huckabee may have finally gone too far.

After running an unconventional, surprisingly strong and sometimes strange race to the top tier of the Republican presidential campaign, the former Arkansas governor topped himself Monday with a campaign stunt that smacked of hypocrisy.

He called a news conference to unveil a negative ad that he had just withdrawn from Iowa television stations because, he told a room full of journalists recording the ad, he had a sudden aversion to negative politics. Quite a convenient epiphany.

"If people want to be cynical about it," Huckabee said, "they can be cynical about it."

If he loses Iowa's caucuses, New Year's Eve will forever mark the day Huckabee blew it — the day a crowd stopped laughing with the witty Republican and laughed at him.

[...]

Huckabee is an immensely talented communicator and successful former governor who is nonetheless a flawed candidate.

• He is mistake prone, particularly when it comes to commenting about foreign policy.

• He can be thin-skinned and rash. Two of his advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said privately Monday that the production of the ad was fueled by Huckabee's white-hot anger with Romney, and that his change of mind was jarring to the campaign staff.

• He has a paltry political organization in a state that values the ground game, according to an informal survey of GOP county chairs and co-chairs. "I haven't seen much of a sign of him or his people," said Jim Conklin, chairman of the Linn County GOP.

He can also be disarmingly honest. Asked whether Romney should stop running negative ads, Huckabee said, "I'm not going to try to run his campaign."

"I'm having enough trouble running mine."

So, did Huckabee waste $30,000 and valuable campaign time and squander the good will of the press because he was ticked off at Romney?

Here's Fox News' take

And then there's this:

And Monday’s press conference will get him free airtime on every major cable channel, local affiliate and print outlet, as reporters analyze the surprising turn of events. Moneywise, the spot cost only $30,000 to produce, but it will play bigger dividends through repeated references in the press.

But the ad could certainly cost the campaign in other ways, as the abrupt reversal will inevitably raise questions about Huckabee’s leadership style and campaign organization, as well as about how it might affect his ground game on caucus night.

Even more significantly, the unusual political twist -- already labeled “bizarre” by some reporters -- forces the press to evaluate his sincerity. The speculation could prove particularly harmful for Huckabee, who has based his campaign largely on a message of authenticity.

As he’s fond of saying on the stump: “If I don’t tell you the truth about how I applied for the job, I probably won’t tell you the truth when I get the job.”

Now the press is left wondering if Huckabee’s “truth” is really just some savvy political maneuvering.

The latest polling shows Huckabee in a statistical dead heat with Romney, a drop from his five-point lead last week.

He also trails in the money race. On a conference call last Friday, Huckabee told reporters that he had about $2 million cash on hand. He’s raised just over $2 million for the entire election cycle through Sept. 31, a fraction of Romney’s $62.8 million total.

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So, this is my New Year's Eve celebration...

My husband, daughters, mother and father-in-law are playing Clue and I'm sitting here reading the political blogs with a head cold. Good thing politics doesn't take much deep thought, huh?

Huckabee played negative ad for reporters after saying he wasn't going to run negative ads

Can't help but wonder if this was a cynical attempt to appear above the fray while getting the negative ad out to a wider audience than he would have been able to afford:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) told reporters Monday that he was pulling a negative ad designed to target his chief rival in Iowa, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

Then he showed the ad to a room packed wall to wall with reporters.

When asked if it is hypocritical to make an announcement about not running negative ads, and then show a negative advertisement to dozens of members of the national and local media, Huckabee said he had to show the ad to prove its existence.

“I want to show you that we were fully prepared,” Huckabee said.

The former governor said the ad, which hits Romney on the issues of taxes and abortion, was set to start running in Iowa Monday at noon.

Romney's response?

Romney spokesman Tim Albrecht said Huckabee is trying to have it both ways, by withdrawing the ad while still showing it to the news media.

"To say one thing one minute and then turn around and show an attack ad to reporters the next will, obviously, leave folks with a very cynical view of Mike Huckabee and his message," Albrecht said.

FNS perdicts who will win in Iowa

I hope they're wrong! The consensus seems to be Romney, Huckabee and McCain.

Hello Kitty AR-15

How cute is this? Makes me want to buy an assault rifle :-) They're not being mass produced though, it was made by a guy for his wife for Christmas (he might want to start thinking about taking orders).

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Huckabee says Romney owes him apology

Demanding an apology from a candidate for their negative ads is not the smartest thing to do when you have a reputation for being thin-skinned and irritable:

Mike Huckabee told me Sunday that Mitt Romney should apologize for saying “blatantly untrue” things about him.

Huckabee also said such an apology would be accepted only if Romney also admitted that he “has not been forthcoming” about his own record.

[...]

“I believe I am still being positive,” Huckabee said. “I am not being negative. I’m responding to dishonest attacks.”

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told me Romney would not apologize to Huckabee and dismissed his comments as a sign of “testiness and irritability.”

He said that Huckabee was indulging in “distortions and evasions” and that “Gov. Huckabee’s reaction is emblematic of somebody whose record is not holding up under scrutiny.”

A Ron Paul surprise in NH?

No, not for me. I expect him to do well in NH but it will be meaningless since he doesn't have a shot at winning the nomination. We can't afford an isolationist during a time of global war and I expect most of the Republican party gets that.

This report sounds strikingly familiar to stuff I read four years ago when another candidate had such strong grass roots support:

For several hours last Sunday, more than a dozen Ron Paul volunteers stood in snowdrifts in the rain outside the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester waving at last-minute Christmas shoppers and handing out hundreds of yards signs.

The campaign doesn't know how many people participated because, as with so many Paul rallies, this one was organized entirely by fans not officially associated with the campaign.

"We told them to take Christmas Eve and Christmas off, and next thing we know they're doing a sign wave at the mall," said Jim Forsythe, a self-employed engineer and former Air Force pilot from Strafford, N.H., who independently organizes volunteer efforts for Ron Paul.

That spontaneous grassroots support is why Mr. Paul, an obstetrician from Lake Jackson, Texas, could pull off a stunner on Jan. 8 and place third in New Hampshire's Republican primary. If he does, he would embarrass Rudy Giuliani and steal media limelight from John McCain and Mitt Romney, who are battling for first place.

Many Republican operatives in New Hampshire, even those affiliated with other campaigns, think Mr. Paul is headed for an impressive, double-digit performance. That he has been polling in the high single digits for months is discounted, because the polls may be missing the depth of his support.

Why? For starters, he appears to be drawing new voters. Polls that screen for "likely" voters might screen out many Paul supporters who haven't voted often, or at all, before. Many of Mr. Paul's supporters appear to be first-time voters. They will be able to cast their ballots because New Hampshire allows them to register and vote on the day of an election.

I even remember all the talk of new voters who will upset the dynamics of the race. It's the exact same narrative just a different name. Maybe the Deaniacs should get ready to comfort the Paulians since they know their pain.

Girl gets anti-capitalist note instead of iPod for Christmas

Her father got the iPod from Wal-Mart and it wasn't the only iPod that was replaced with a note:

A little girl thought she was getting an iPod for Christmas but ended up getting a rude surprise. She got the box but when she opened it up, she found a surprising switch: the iPod had been replaced with a bizarre note.

The note reads in part "Reclaim your mind from the media shackles."

The whole note:

Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple Store.

How arrogant of this person to think that their note would have any impact at all. Why does he/she think that their own mind is free? Isn't she/he imprisoned by their own hatred of capitalism or consumerism that they would steal an iPod to make a point? That they would steal the joy away from a child's Christmas morning. How sick is that?

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Um...about Ron Paul being excluded from the Fox News Debate

Well, um...it appears that there was no debate to begin with :-) according to Don Surber:

Ron Paul protests his “exclusion” from an imaginary Fox News debate. Big Head DC snookers him.

And me. This is what I get for trusting a fellow who gets most of his support from people who live in the basement.

OK, I got an e-mail yesterday from Ron Paul’s people who were indignant over his exclusion from an imaginary debate at Fox News. I didn’t realize this was Ron Paul’s reaction to a faux Fox debate that Big Head DC made up.

If that's the case, why the heck didn't yahoo check to make sure there really was a debate.

Note to self: do not believe a press release on yahoo unless it's been verified.

Rollins: Reagan Coalition is Done

If that's the case, why are so many of the candidates invoking Reagan? Are they attempting to appeal to just a fraction of the base? I guess Huckabee's campaign needs this to be true since he's only able to attract the social conservatives:

“It’s gone,” said Ed Rollins, who once worked as President Reagan’s political director and recently became Mr. Huckabee’s national campaign chairman. “The breakup of what was the Reagan coalition — social conservatives, defense conservatives, antitax conservatives — it doesn’t mean a whole lot to people anymore.”

“It is a time for a whole new coalition — that is the key,” he said, adding that some part of the original triad might “go by the wayside.”

If it's gone, that would be a shame because I would no longer have a reason to support the Republicans. But I think it lives in the Thompson campaign.

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Thompson makes his case for the voters of Iowa

In this video:

Sure, confident, articulate, bold and in charge! This video demonstrates exactly why I support him. I knew he had it in him -- it sounds just like his radio commentaries. He makes a compelling case why he should be our next president.

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JK Rowling hints at another Harry Potter book

I bet it would be about Harry Potter's kids:

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has strongly hinted for the first time that she could write an eighth book in the series.

Rowling, 42, admits she has 'weak moments' when she feels she will pen another novel about the boy wizard.

One of her biggest fans – her 14-year-old daughter Jessica – has already put pressure on her to revisit the character.

[...]

"If - and it's a big if - I ever write an eighth book, I doubt that Harry would be the central character. I feel I've already told his story.

"But these are big ifs. Let's give it ten years."

In the meantime, Rowling is working on two writing projects – an adult novel and a "political fairy tale" – and is involved in charity work.

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Could Huckabee's lack of foreign policy knowledge hurt him in Iowa?

Well, it turned off this voter:

“I was a Huckabee supporter until about a week ago,” said Brian Wright, a Fort Madison resident. “And then I heard his comment about Pakistan today.”

[...]

“Knowing that Senator Fred Thompson has foreign policy experience with the world leaders, I believe he’s the best choice,” said Wright, adding that Huckabee turning Bhutto’s assassination into an immigration issue “turned me away from him.”

What's funny about this is that Huckabee brought up immigration to appeal to men:

The campaign official admitted that Huckabee's tough immigration talk is also aimed at helping him win male GOP voters in Iowa -- a bloc the official concedes the campaign has been losing ground with.

Um...it looks like it backfired.

BTW, so much for the analyst who said this wouldn't effect the race:

"Mike Huckabee is a populist. His comments on Pakistan reflect a populist understanding of the crisis, which, is to say, not much," Schneider said. "Sure, the political establishment is snickering, but I doubt that his misstatements bother his supporters much."

Related Post:
Senior aide to Huckabee: He has "no foreign policy credentials"

Senior aide to Huckabee: He has "no foreign policy credentials"

Well, at least they're finally admitting that he doesn't know what the heck he's talking about:

A senior aide to Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee admitted Friday that the former Arkansas governor had "no foreign policy credentials" after his comments reacting to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto raised questions.

During an event Friday in Pella, Iowa, Huckabee said the crisis sparked by Bhutto's death should lead to a crackdown on illegal immigrants from Pakistan.

The Huckabee official told CNN that when he said that, Huckabee was trying to turn attention away from scrutiny of his foreign policy knowledge.

[...]

"In light of what happened in Pakistan yesterday, it's interesting that there are more Pakistanis who have illegally crossed the border than of any other nationality except for those immediately south of our border," Huckabee said Friday.

[...]

The campaign official admitted that Huckabee's tough immigration talk is also aimed at helping him win male GOP voters in Iowa -- a bloc the official concedes the campaign has been losing ground with.

Huckabee said 660 Pakistanis entered the country illegally last year. When asked by a reporter the source for that statistic, Huckabee appeared unsure, saying, "Those are numbers that I got today from a briefing, and I believe they are CIA and immigration numbers." The Huckabee campaign later said the figure came from a March 2006 report by The Denver Post.

But the Border Patrol told CNN on Friday that it apprehended only "a handful" of illegal immigrants from Pakistan in 2007.

The number of illegal immigrants from Pakistan deported or apprehended is not mentioned in the latest report from the Department of Homeland Security/Office of Immigration Statistics. In 2005, the nation did not make the list of the top 10 sources of illegal immigrants. The previous year, Pakistan was the last country listed, but no specific numbers were given.

CNN video report here.

You've got to love a campaign that's this open and honest about the failings of their candidate.

And then there's this from the CNN article:

"Mike Huckabee is a populist. His comments on Pakistan reflect a populist understanding of the crisis, which, is to say, not much," Schneider said. "Sure, the political establishment is snickering, but I doubt that his misstatements bother his supporters much."

Elitism, anyone?

Ron Paul: Fox News is "scared of me"

Ron Paul reacts to being excluded from the Fox News debate:

Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him.

"They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."

Paul's staff said they are beginning to plan a rally that will take place at the same time the 90-minute debate will air on television. It will be taped at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown.

"They will not win this skirmish," he promised.

(via)

Since Paul is polling higher than Thompson in NH, how do they justify excluding him but including Thompson?

Bin Laden warns against Iraq unity government

It undermines the establishment of an Islamic state:

Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining tribal councils fighting al-Qaida or participating in any unity government, in a new Internet audiotape on Saturday.

"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said in the tape.

He denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, a tribal force fighting al-Qaida in western Iraq, who was killed.

New Attack ad against Romney by a Huckabee supporter

I don't see how helpful it is to the Huckabee campaign to put out an attack ad of this quality. The laugh track is very annoying and seems random (when I played it the first time I thought something was playing on another browser window). And the flip-flop charge is one that could be turned against Huckabee given his own flip-flop on immigration.

(via)

Ron Paul excluded from the FOX NH debate?

Uh oh! Fox better get ready for an email and phone call blitz:

According to the New Hampshire State Republican Party and an Associated Press report, Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul will be excluded from an upcoming forum of Republican candidates to be broadcast by Fox News on January 6, 2008.

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Extremely bad news for Thompson in latest poll

Oh boy!

While public polls show Mike Huckabee leading Mitt Romney in Iowa, a new survey of an oversized sample shows Huckabee slipping and no longer ahead of Romney.

A private corporate interest commissioned a phone bank survey of 15,000 Iowans who say they will attend Republican presidential caucuses Jan. 3. It showed Romney with 30 percent and Huckabee at 26 percent. Sen. John McCain was third with 12 percent and Rudy Giuliani fourth at 9 percent. Fred Thompson had only 1 percent, with slightly fewer votes than Rep. Ron Paul (also at 1 percent).

Not good! I hope the support for the other candidates is soft and Thompson can make his case in these final days.

Thompson made his goal!!!

That would have been embarrassing if he couldn't raise such a relatively small amount in two days!

Teenager arrested for stealing Jesus outfitted with a GPS

Maybe this will put a stop to this annoying Christmas tradition.

At 6:45 a.m. Thursday, a village employee noticed that the statue was missing. Building maintenance supervisor Gus Arnold logged on to the monitoring system and saw that it was taken from the manger at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Arnold homed in on Jesus' location and called the sheriff's office to get it back.

Jesus was in a home on Suellen Circle, in a neighborhood across the street from the Nativity scene.

Deputies knocked on the door Thursday morning. When a woman answered, they saw the statue face-down on the living room floor.

The woman's son directed the deputies to the alleged culprit.

The simple spur-of-the-moment prank landed an 18-year-old suburban Lake Worth woman in jail, charged with a felony. Danielle Santino told deputies she took the statue and dropped it at a friend's house, then left.

[...]

Santino's friend, 18-year-old Fernando Silva, was initially arrested but cooperated with deputies and was released. Santino turned herself in and was booked into Palm Beach County Jail with bail set at $3,500. She is charged with a felony for taking an item valued at $800, plus $400 for the GPS system.

(via)

Man hits boy while texting

People are getting too comfortable behind the wheel and aren't remembering that it takes concentration to drive (says the woman who does Greek and Hebrew flash cards when she drives). Our prays for the family who lost their child:

The man accused of killing a 13-year-old boy in a hit-and-run in Taunton told police he was behind the wheel typing a text message on his cellphone when he lost control of the sport utility vehicle and hit what he thought was a mailbox, a prosecutor said today in court.

Craig P. Bigos, 31, told investigators that he did not realize the SUV had struck the boy on the bicycle until he drove back down Poole Street hours later on his way to work at a restaurant, said Bristol County prosecutor Aaron T. Strojny.

The boy, Earman Machado, was sleeping over at a friend's house Thursday night. The teens had gone out at 12:30 a.m. to meet two girls, Strojny said today in Taunton District Court. Machado was riding a bicycle and his friend was walking on the soft shoulder of the road. Police said the friend, also 13, attempted to call 911, but was unable to get through on his cellphone.

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GospelTube.com Presents the Top 10 Christian Videos of 2007

Here.

“Substance” Airing in Iowa

Thompson started airing his ad but he has to have $40,000 more to air it until the caucus. Donations can be made here.

Transcript of Alleged al-Qaida Intercept

The transcript of a call intercepted by the Pakistani government who participated in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto:

Maulvi Sahib: Peace be on you.

Mehsud: Peace be on you, too.

Maulvi Sahib: How are you Emir Sahib?

Mehsud: Fine.

Maulvi Sahib: Congratulations. I arrived now tonight.

Mehsud: Congratulations to you, too.

Maulvi Sahib: They were our men there.

Mehsud: Who were they?

Maulvi Sahib : There were Saeed, the second was Badarwala Bilal and Ikramullah was also there.

Mehsud: The three did it?

Maulvi Sahib: Ikramullah and Bilal did it.

Mehsud: Then congratulations to you again.

Maulvi: Where are you? I want to meet with you?

Mehsud: I am in Makin. Come I am at Anwar Shah's home.

Maulvi Sahib: OK I will come.

Mehsud: Do not inform their family presently.

Maulvi Sahib: Right.

Mehsud: It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her.

Maulvi Sahib: Praise be to God. I will give you more details when I come.

Mehsud: I will wait for you. Congratulation once again.

Maulvi Sahib: Congratulations to you as well.

Mehsud: Any service?

Mauvliv: Thank you very much?

Mehsud: Peace be on you.

Maulvi: Same to you.

Thompon has raised over $160,000

Please consider donating to the only true conservative in the pack. Do we really want McCain as our nominee? What about the gang of 14? What about amnesty? Do we want a candidate like Romney who turns off voters the more they hear him? Do we really want to put someone like Huckabee up against Clinton? Do we really trust that the fiscal and national security conservatives will pick him over her? And do we trust that the social conservatives will support Giuliani in the general? Thompson is the only candidate who brings all the Republican constituents together.

If each person gives a few bucks it will go a long way to get his message out.

Huckabee shoots over the heads of the reporters

Evidently, he violated gun safety etiquette:

Republican Mike Huckabee took his presidential campaign for a quick pheasant-hunting expedition in Iowa on Wednesday, and at one point, a reporter asked why he hadn’t invited sporting enthusiast Dick Cheney along. "Because I want to survive all the way through this," Huckabee replied, in a chuckling dig at the vice president’s accidental shooting of a quail-hunting partner last year.

Any good sportsman, though, couldn’t miss a distinctly Cheneyesque moment in the press accounts of the former Arkansas governor’s morning hunt: At one point, Huckabee’s party turned toward a cluster of reporters and cameramen and, when they kicked up a pheasant, fired shotgun blasts over the group’s heads.

This, friends, is dangerously bad hunting form.

Your Swamp correspondent, the son of a longtime hunter education instructor, grew up plying the corn rows and stream banks of rural Oregon with a Labrador retriever and a Mossberg 20-gauge pump shotgun. On our hunts for pheasant, grouse and quail, merely swinging a gun barrel in the general direction of another person was grounds for day-long banishment to the truck (which smelled like wet dog).

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Even if he isn't a poseur like Kerry, this whole thing is such a poseur thing to do. It reeks of pandering.

Clinton not taking questions

Her imperial majesty isn't accepting questions from reporters or the peasants who come to hear her speak:

As she races through Iowa in the days before next week's caucuses, Hillary Clinton is taking few chances. She tells crowds that it’s their turn to “pick a president,’’ but over the last two days she has not invited them to ask her any questions.

Before the brief Christmas break, the New York senator had been setting aside time after campaign speeches to hear from the audience. Now when she’s done speaking, her theme songs blare from loudspeakers, preventing any kind of public Q&A.

She was no more inviting when a television reporter approached her after a rally on Thursday and asked if she was “moved’’ by Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Clinton turned away without answering.

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"Ron Paul Rejects Evolution Too"

What do these people expect? Christians generally reject the theory of evolution because they accept the biblical account of creation.

Thompson on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination

(via)

Thompson's raised $100,000 for his ad

Please consider contributing to the campaign so that his ad will run through the caucus.

On immigration, abortion, taxes, social security reform, guns, foreign policy, etc. he has the most consistently conservative position. Don't just sit on the sideline waiting to see if he can close the deal in Iowa, help him do it.

Send your family and friends an e-card to encourage them to contribute.

Thompson needs $248,846

To run this ad. Please consider contributing to the only candidate who is a fiscal, national security and social conservative.

Update: for some reason the ad is not working on my browser. If you can't see it go here.

20 hosts gather in Iowa to focus on candidates' border positions

Fred Thompson is going to participate:

Twenty talk show hosts from across the nation are gathering in Des Moines today and tomorrow in a "Talk Radio Row" organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform that is intended to bring presidential candidates' positions on immigration reform into the spotlight.

FAIR's plans include a forum in which top Democratic and Republican Party presidential contenders, Iowa politicians, and national experts can meet to be interviewed in a talk radio marathon that reflects the growing importance of the immigration debate to the 2008 presidential campaign.

Julie Kirchner, executive director of FAIR, said Republican presidential candidates Ron Paul and Fred Thompson are scheduled to appear, with several other candidates planning to participate in radio interviews by telephone.

[...]

A Zogby poll commissioned by the FAIR Congressional Task Force and released to coincide with the Des Moines talk show row suggests support for enforcement of U.S. immigration laws is an issue uniting Iowans of all political persuasions.

The poll, conducted between Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 of likely Democratic and Republican caucus participants, found 84 percent of Iowa Republicans and 60 percent of Democrats support "tightening border security, while increasing enforcement actions against employers who hire illegal immigrants in an effort to convince illegal immigrants to return home."

At least someone is trying to figure out where the candidates stand on these issues. This is a good opportunity for Thompson to highlight the fact that most of his opponents have a very bad record when it comes to illegal immigration.

Bhutto Killed at Political Rally

I'd heard reports that she was injured but it looks like she's been killed. The jihadists have finally gotten to her:

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday at a political rally, two months after she returned from eight years of exile to attempt a political comeback, officials said.

Bhutto was shot at close range as she was leaving the rally in this garrison city south of Islamabad, aides said. Immediately after the shooting, a suicide bomber detonated explosives near Bhutto's car, killing at least 15 other people.

Bhutto was rushed to a hospital with extensive wounds to her torso, her supporters said. Shortly after she arrived at the hospital, an official came out of the building and told a crowd of supporters Bhutto was dead.

Also Thursday, a rooftop sniper opened fire on supporters of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at a different pre-election rally in Rawalpindi, leaving four dead and at least five injured.

Bhutto's death is a devastating development, coming 12 days before Pakistanis are set to vote in national parliamentary elections already marked by enormous political turmoil. President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November -- a move which he said was to combat terrorism, but which was widely perceived as an effort to stave off legal challenges to his authority. U.S. military officials said last week that the terrorist group al-Qaeda increasingly is focusing its efforts in Pakistan.

Pakistan would be perfect for al-Qaeda since they have the bomb but fortunately two of our presidential candidates are ready to invade Pakistan to root out al-Qaeda (Obama and Huckabee -- funny how they're ready to talk with Iran but eager to invade Pakistan).

Update: This will teach me to make an offhand remark because that will be all some will focus on. I debated adding politics to the story, I wish I hadn't because it is a tragedy and that should have been the focus. Unfortunately, it was a tragedy that I expected to happen because she was a woman and she was in a position of power (influential over others) and you can't have that in a nation with terrorists who live by Sharia law.

Another update: Thompson interviewed about the murder:

Thompson: "there is no woman on the horizon that ought to be president next year"

Thompson tweaking Hillary on the campaign trail:

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson on Wednesday teased Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying "there is no woman on the horizon that ought to be president next year."

The former Tennessee senator was challenging potential caucus-goers to choose the best man to help fend off what he described as an assault by a Democratic Party that is "just salivating" to lead the country into a welfare state.

"Who are we going to set on the road — what man are we going to set on the road — to lead us and to stand against this assault?" he asked, emphasizing the word 'man.' He couched his comments by saying "I say the word man advisedly. Now I've got a daughter that's going to be president some day, I know it, and I am all for a woman president, just not this year, not next year."

[...]

Fresh off of a Christmas break, Thompson joked about taking advantage of too much holiday bounty. Tugging on his black leather jacket, he said "I found that when I got my campaign clothes back on, that somebody shrunk my jacket ... I don't know who washed it behind my back, but somebody apparently did."

I'm shocked that the reporter didn't say "attacked." Go read the report I left out his weird football analogy that I didn't get (I don't watch football so I rarely get football analogies).

Ottumwa Courier endorses Thompson

Local Iowa newspaper:

Fred Thompson is the unlikely candidate. Perfectly content with his status as a former senator and Hollywood actor, Thompson says he happy in his private life.

But despite the pitfalls of the rough and tumble world of politics, the Republican says Washington, D.C. needs a “consistent” conservative to lead the United States into a new direction.

Thompson is unapologetic on his views and is a straight-shooter.

“These are clearly challenging times. I don’t think we’ve fully come to terms with the kind of world we live in,” he told members of the Courier editorial board recently.

Indeed, Thompson believes work must continue in Iraq despite growing concerns American troops should return home.

We have to “finish what we’re doing,” he said, adding the United States must continue the fight there and in Afghanistan.

Thompson said the United States can no longer ignore the instability in Afghanistan and in nearby Pakistan because of issues ranging from the Taliban to the country’s economic dependence on the opium trade.

Mary is changed to Lucy in order not to offend non-Christians

This is in Britain where the Queen is the head of the church:

For decades, children have enjoyed singing about the little donkey which is said to have carried the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem.

But one group of young singers was ordered to change the traditional lyrics of the Christmas song - because they were said to be "too religious".

Instead of "Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way", the youngsters were told to sing "carry Lucy" for fear of offending non-Christians. The incident, at the school's Christmas concert, appears on a new calendar alongside 11 other examples of extreme political correctness from around Britain.

(via)

OK, so let me get this straight, they don't want to offend non-Christians who are attending a Christmas concert? These people appear to be too dumb to be involved in educating children.

Terrorists will participate in protecting Bush during his visit to Palestine

OK, this doesn't seem too smart:

Members of the most active West Bank terror organization are set to participate in security forces being deployed to protect President Bush during his visit to the Palestinian territories next month, WND has learned.

Bush is due in the region Jan. 9 as part of a follow-up to last month's U.S.-led Israeli-Palestinian Annapolis summit.

During his trip, the American president is scheduled to hold talks with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, and meet quickly with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to Israeli security officials coordinating deployments of forces with the PA for Bush's Ramallah visit, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, have been called upon by the PA to participate in the protection of Bush's convoy and in securing the parameter during the meeting with Abbas.

The Brigades is listed as a terror organization by the U.S. State Department. The group took credit along with the Islamic Jihad terror organization for every suicide bombing in Israel between 2005 and 2006, and is responsible for thousands of shootings and rocket firings. Statistically, the Al Aqsa Brigades perpetuated more terrorism from the West Bank than Hamas, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

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Huckabee on CEO compensation

This does not sound like a conservative. Is he willing to intimidate businesses to do what he thinks is right? He really is a moralist! I'm not sure if we really need someone in the White House who wants to keep us in line by using the federal government to do it.

HUCKABEE: It’s a combination. It’s when one person losing his job who helped make the company successful and the person who steers the company either into bankruptcy or selling off it in pieces is taking that golden parachute of several hundred million dollars. I mean, there’s just something wrong about that, and every American knows it, whether he’s at the top or bottom. What the government ought to do is, first of all, call attention to it, put some spotlight on it. I don’t think it’s about coming up with some new regulation. Corporate boards ought to show some responsibility. If a board allows that kind of thing to happen, shame on that board. And I would hope that it wouldn’t necessitate additional laws and regulation because usually when you get into regulation, it just gets worse and it makes it [an] even bigger problem than you had to begin with.

HARWOOD: So you wouldn’t actually do anything about it as the head of the government? You would simply use the pulpit to talk about it?

HUCKABEE: That would be the first line of maybe offense, perhaps John. And then what I would like to see is the corporate board showing responsibility with an understanding that if they don’t start showing some responsibility, then they’re going to end up forcing government to take action, which is the worst thing that could happen and it only exacerbates a problem rather than actually solves it.

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Google warning for The American Spectator

What's up with the Google warning for The American Spectator? (click on graphics to view warning message).

Do you see the dancer spinning clock-wise or counter clock-wise

Clock-wise means you use the right side of your brain more and counter-clock wise means you use the left side more. Here's a list of left and right brain functions.

I see it spinning both ways.

Wired's Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007

Here. I agree with their choice for number one.

1. Researchers Turn Skin Cells to Stem Cells

Using a virus to reprogram skin cells, two teams of scientists managed to skirt the greatest ethical issue facing regenerative medicine -- the destruction of human embryos. Groups led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and Junying Yu of the University of Wisconsin coaxed a type of skin cell called fibroblasts into forming muscle, heart, fat and nerve tissues without using any eggs. Unfortunately, the hijacked cells often became tumors. Following up on his initial discovery this November, Yamanaka told Nature Biotechnology that by inserting three growth genes instead of four, the lab-grown flesh can be controlled without becoming cancerous.

Bon Jovi an elder statesman????

*Snicker*

He calls her "Mrs. C." And she calls on him to add a little celebrity gloss to her presidential campaign.

The rock singer Jon Bon Jovi and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been friends for more than a decade, uniting for state dinners at the White House and campaign fund-raisers.

If it seems strange that a rocker who sings paeans of working-class New Jersey is so friendly with a senator and former first lady who is using a Celine Dion song as the theme of her presidential campaign, consider a few items on Bon Jovi's social calendar in the last few months.

There were dinners with Clinton and another Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, her fiercest rival for the nomination, asked Bon Jovi to hear him speak in New York. And the former Vice President Al Gore caught up with him in London for a photo op.

Bon Jovi, 45, whose tousled golden mane and porcelain-white smile have twice helped him earn People magazine's award for sexiest rock star, can lay claim to an unofficial new title these days: the New Jersey's elder statesman.

In New Jersey, it is practically a requirement for any high-ranking politician to attend at least one of his shows. And despite his left-leaning political allegiances, Democrats and Republicans alike seek him out as if he were New Jersey's very own Bono.

He sings paeans of working-class New Jersey so that he can have Bruce Springsteens millions. Just because you sing about the working poor doesn't make you one of them.

And then there's this:

And as someone who sings about his "plastic dashboard Jesus" and performs at concerts to fight global warming, his appeal is broad.

[...]

The two were on a flight to Maryland for a day of horse racing at the Pimlico race course with some friends when someone asked them to compare occupations. "He said, 'Mr. President, which is better, your job or Jon's?' I said, 'I know the answer to that. Mine, because I get to keep the airplane and the house.' "

Hmmm...fighting global warming while bragging about owning airplanes -- there seems to be a disconnect there.

(via)

It brings a tear to the eye when you see...

A wish fulfilled at Christmas :-)

Christmas in Iraq

Let's pray that this continues:

Thousands of Iraqi Christians made their way to church through checkpoints and streets lined with blast walls, many drawing hope from a lull in violence to celebrate Christmas Mass in numbers unthinkable a year ago.

Death is never far in Iraq—two separate suicide bombings north of Baghdad killed at least 35 people and wounded scores more. But the number of attacks has fallen dramatically in the past few months—the U.S. military says by 60 percent since June.

"We did not celebrate last year, but this year we have security and we feel better," said Rasha Ghaban, one of many women at the small Church of the Holy Family in Karradah, a mainly Shiite district in downtown Baghdad where many Christians live. "We hope our future will be better, God willing."

[...]

Muslim clerics—both Sunni and Shiite—also attended the service in a sign of unity.

"May Iraq be safe every year, and may our Christian brothers be safe every year," Shiite cleric Hadi al-Jazail told AP Television News outside the church. "We came to celebrate with them and to reassure them."

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Blogburst this Thursday for Fred Thompson

Rick Moran is suggesting that Fredhead bloggers participate in a Blogburst to raise money for him this Thursday:

All of us know the long odds faced by Fred Thompson in his efforts to win the GOP nomination for president. I’m sure you are all aware that Fred has undertaken pretty much of a do or die bus tour of Iowa in order to finish strongly in the Caucuses on January 3.

Many of you have already taken steps to support the Thompson campaign in a tangible way by placing fundraising widgets on your sidebar and writing about the campaign. In this way, each of us alone has done whatever we can to support Fred in his efforts.

But at this, the 11th hour of the campaign in Iowa, I think it would be a very effective fundraising tool if as many of us as possible were to participate in an old-fashioned Blogburst, writing a post asking readers to donate to the campaign while embedding a fundraising widget in the post for convenience.

I propose Thursday, December 27 for the Blogburst. If you have an email list, I would urge you to ask your subscribers to donate. If you know of other bloggers who support Fred, please forward this email and ask them to participate as well.

Not expecting a “money bomb” but even a few tens of thousands of dollars would help, I’m sure. Given the number of readers represented in the blogs listed here (where I got all of your email addresses) and your cooperation, I feel confident we can give a real shot in the arm to the campaign.

I don’t think any of us believe that our endorsement of Thompson alone means that much in the long run. But working together, uniting for one day and speaking with one voice, I think we could make a significant impact on Fred’s chances in Iowa. After all, when the candidate you support rolls the dice as Fred has, the least we can do is back his play to the best of our ability.

Stolen Baby Jesus Returned

Remorseful?

It may not qualify as a Christmas miracle, but residents are grateful that a baby Jesus figure stolen from the town's nativity scene a year ago has been returned.

The miniature figure and the manger that held him were stolen last December from the nativity scene off Highway 36 in Brazoria, about 55 miles south of Houston. They were mysteriously returned sometime last week.

Merry Christmas to our troops!

Thank you for your sacrifice and your desire to service and protect this country.

Moonshadow, you were linked to by Slate!

They did a blog round up on Huckabee accepting money from Novo Nordisk and they linked to your comment!

Does Huckabee heart stem cells?: Some conservative bloggers have noticed that presidential candidate Mike Huckabee accepted money from Novo Nordisk, an embryonic stem-cell research company that also focuses on diabetes care. The company made available 35,000 free copies of a Spanish translation of Huckabee's weight-loss book about coping with diabetes. The Arkansas Times' Max Brantley, blogged about the story in October, but it has been picking up steam in recent days. According to the Caucus Cooler, Huckabee accepted $35,000 from Novo Nordisk.

"The double standard is one thing but these may be existing stem cell lines which even the President supports funding," allows Moonshadow, commenting on Reformed Chicks Blabbing, a Christian blog. But others are licking their lips. "I'd like to hear [Huckabee's] Clintonian answer on this one," writes ARRA News Service's Bill Smith, who blogs for the Arkansas Republican Assembly. Noting that Mitt Romney has been criticized by pro-lifers for owning stock in Novo Nordisk, right-leaning Riehl World View points out, "The word on Huckabee is that he likes his money. I'm not sure people realize just how much, given the poor preacher image and all. He appears to have made several times his salary as Governor from outside business interests." On Newsbusters, a conservative-media watchdog blog, John Stephenson wonders why the story isn't getting more attention and writes, "With as many critiques that I've given Huckabee, I've never questioned him on social issues. I've always thought that was his strong point. But now comes news that those principles may not be so bonafide, at least when money gets involved." InstaPundit's libertarian Glenn Reynolds finds the story's low profile unsurprising: "[I]t's the slowest news weekend of the year and lots of media folks are on vacation. Oh, and also, they want Huckabee to get the nomination so the GOP will lose in the fall."

See what happens when you comment at Reformed Chicks? Slate magazine notices! Maybe some of you might want to start commenting now :-)

Carol of the Bells

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our readers and those just passing through. I hope you have a very nice day spending time with your family and friends and that you don't overindulge :-)

I'm waiting for my husband and teenage daughter to get up so we can open presents. I already opened mine weeks ago (my very wonderful Vaio) so I have no surprises under the tree :-) My joy will be in watching the faces of my daughters reacting to the surprises I have for them.

I also have to wait for breakfast since it's a family tradition to have french toast and bacon Christmas morning. I can't tell you what I'm having for dinner because my dad reads the blog occasionally and I don't want to spoil the surprise but I can tell you that I'll be making cheese fondue. We only have it once a year and it's soooo yummy. It's what I look forward to each year. The last couple years I've forgotten an ingredient. Last year it was the worcestershire sauce, one year it was bread. My poor husband had to go out for all hours looking for an open store to get it which is not easy since everything is closed Christmas. He found the bread at an Italian restaurant and the worcestershire sauce in an Asian market. This year I checked the list of ingredients to make sure I have them all.

I was going to give you the recipe but my husband just got up and we got my teenager up so we're off to open presents. I'll try to put it up later. I'll leave you with my favorite Christmas video clip:

Woman stabbed husband over Christmas present

Some people can't handle the stress of Christmas:

A woman stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife following an argument that began when she accused him of opening a Christmas present early, authorities said Friday.

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The Huckabee critics

Here's a list of Huckabee's critics. It's an impressive list of conservatives and they're criticism shouldn't be dismissed lightly, there are reasons why conservatives don't like Huckabee's positions.

And from that list you have Laura Ingraham criticizing his stance on illegal immigration:

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In a nuclear war between Israel and Iran...

Israel wins. I don't think that Iran would really care how many people they lost if they thought they really could annihilate Israel:

If a nuclear war between Israel and Iran were to break out 16-20 million Iranians would lose their lives - as opposed to 200,000-800,000 Israelis, according to a report recently published by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which is headed by Anthony H. Cordesman, formerly an analyst for the US Department of Defense. The document, which is largely theoretical due to the lack of verified knowledge in some areas - specifically in terms of Israel's nuclear capability - paints various scenarios and attempts to predict the strategies of regional powers, as well as the US.

[...]

The report assesses that a nuclear war would last approximately three weeks and ultimately end with the annihilation of Iran, due to Israel's alleged possession of weapons with a far larger yield. Israel, according to the assessment, would have a larger chance of survival. The report does not attempt to predict how many deaths would eventually be caused by possible nuclear fallout.

(via)

Baby Jesus to get a GPS

They should sell those baby Jesus figures with a GPS already installed since so many of them get stolen. Another solution is to buy the inflatable Nativity scene. There's no way to get the baby Jesus without stealing the whole thing.

A statue of the infant Jesus on display near Miami in Florida is being fitted with a Global Positioning System device after the original figurine was stolen.

[...]

The original vanished three weeks ago, despite being bolted to the ground.

[...]

A Jewish lawyer, Jeffrey Harris, from Cincinnati, who read about the theft on the internet, has donated the new Jesus figurine in the Founders Circle area of the city.

That was nice! He did it because he liked the Christmas spirit.

Bubble 2.0

Didn't anyone learn from the first tech bubble?

(via)

Why is Huckabee taking money from Novo Nordisk?

They do embryonic stem cell research:

Mike Huckabee produced his financial disclosure statement indicating that he had been paid a $17,500 consulting fee by a leading pharmaceutical company engaged in embryonic stem cell research to find a treatment for diabetes.

Romney was criticized for having stock in the company:

Mitt Romney was criticized in April for also having investments in Novo Nordisk. He has since divested from the stem cell research company.

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Reid having a hard time recruiting candidates

Umm...what happened? I thought you might want to hear this in case you thought there would be a blow out in November and the Democrats would have super majority and be able to ram everything they want through the Congress and have it signed into law by their Democrat president:

According to leading Democrats, 2008 is supposed to be “their year.” Instead prominent Democrats in states once thought to be a chance for a Democrat pickup are abandoning their Senate hopes:

In Mississippi, Democrats received a crushing blow to their hopes of picking up retiring Senator Trent Lott’s seat when former Attorney General Mike Moore turned them down flatly.

In Nebraska, where retiring Senator Chuck Hagel’s seat is open, no serious Democrat has stepped forward to challenge popular former Governor Mike Johanns.

In Texas, self-funding attorney Mikal Watts walked away from Senate challenge against the strong conservative and well-respected Senator John Cornyn.

And, finally, State Auditor Crit Luallen — the candidate top Senate Democrats including Harry Reid were personally recruiting to run against Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell — in Kentucky has backed out of consideration.

Now, no one is claiming that there will be a Republican majority next year (if they claimed that, they would be foolish) but it looks like it's not going to be as big a trouncing as it could have been (and I admit it looked pretty bleak there for awhile).

France to send more troops to Afghanistan

Umm....what's that you say about us going it alone? If any presidential candidate says that we have a "bunker mentality" and have lost the support of the world for our war on terror, it's safe to say that they don't know what's going on in the world and aren't prepared to lead:

Said Nicolas Sarkozy: “There is a war going on here, a war against terrorism, against fanaticism that we cannot and will not lose.”

[...]

By the way, both the Dutch and the Canadians (who finally elected a conservative as prime minister) have re-upped for tours of Afghanistan through 2010.

Oh and one more thing about timelines. Sarkozy said: “What is certain is that we have not wanted to give the signal of departure, that would have been a despicable signal at a time when one sees the ravages inflicted by terrorism in the world.”

Australia is also committed to sending more troops.

Clinton playing the racial card?

Hmmm....I wouldn't put it past them:

It has unfolded mostly under the radar. But an important development in the 2008 Democratic battle may be the building backlash among African Americans over comments from associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that could be construed as jabs at Sen. Barack Obama's race.

These officials, including Clinton aides and prominent surrogates, have raised questions or dropped references about Obama's position on sentencing guidelines for crack vs. powder cocaine offenses; on his handgun control record; and on his admitted use of drugs as a youth. The context was always Obama's "electability." But the Illinois senator's campaign advisers said some African American leaders detect a pattern, and they believe it could erode Clinton's strong base of black support.

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The Nano Bible

And I don't mean iPod. I guess this could revive the "how many angels can fit on the size of a pin" debates.

Israeli scientists have inscribed the entire Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible onto a space less than half the size of a grain of sugar.

The nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa say the book was etched on a surface that measures less than 0.01 square inch. They chose the Jewish Bible to highlight how vast quantities of information can be stored on minimum amounts of space.

"It took us about an hour to etch the 300,000 words of the Bible onto a tiny silicon surface," Ohad Zohar, the university's scientific adviser for educational programs, told the Associated Press.

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The jihad's been called off, guys

I guess the Great Satan has won:

One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."

In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.

The disclosures from Mr. Sharif, also known as Dr. Fadl and Abd al-Qadir ibn Abd al-Aziz, have already opened a rift at the highest levels of Al Qaeda. The group's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, a former associate of the defecting theologian in Egypt, personally mocked him last month in a video, remarking that he was unaware Egyptian prisons had fax machines. Meanwhile, leading Western analysts are saying the defection of Mr. Sharif indicates the beginning of the end for Al Qaeda.

[...]

The director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, Frank Cilluffo, said, "Here you have someone with the stature and credibility, who more or less wrote the book on jihadism and is oft cited by other jihadists, making the case against it. This is someone with the heft on legal and religious grounds to make the counter argument that we can't."

[...]

His latest texts are a renunciation of his earlier work, saying the military jihad or war against apostate states and America is futile. But the ex-jihadist also calls into question the virtue of Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri. In some ways the manifesto reads in parts like a spicy Washington memoir by an embittered former official.

Of his old associates he writes, "Bin Laden, al-Zawahri, and others fled at the beginning of the American bombing [in Afghanistan], to the point of abandoning their wives and families to be killed along with other innocent people," according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute. It goes on, "I think that a sharia court should be established, composed of reliable scholars, to hold these people accountable for their crimes — even if in absentia — so that those who are ignorant in their religion do not repeat this futility."

(via)

IE7 -- program or virus?

Ouch!

Video of a couple trying to use their XO

Doesn't look to easy maybe they should have called in their kid to help.

(via)

BTW, the keyboard is not for adults.

Maybe he should just get a man purse

Or at least a fanny pack. It would be less ridiculous.

Is Rush Limbaugh picking a fight with Mike Huckabee?

Leave it to the MSM to get the story wrong:

Also on the candidate's agenda on Saturday – Is Rush Limbaugh picking a fight with Mike Huckabee? Some members of the media seem to think so. Rush had some harsh words for the newest GOP presidential frontrunner on his show last week, supposedly in response to a Huckabee aide calling Rush an "entertainer."

"I don't know [why he's mad]," Huckabee said. "I don't know, I mean I really don't. But all I can do is hope that Rush will love me as much as I love Rush because I think he's terrific and he's been a very clarion voice for the conservative movement. Somebody said something that upset him. I don't know who and I don't know what and I can't fix what I don't know."

Make you kind of want to throw up doesn't it?

(via)

"National Treasure" #1 this weekend at the box office

I'm so glad that it's doing well because now they'll probably be another one. I loved "National Treasure!" It's my favorite movie and what's so funny is that I hate Nicolas Cage in every other movie he's been in except for this one. I loved him in the first one and can't wait to see this one. I would have gone to see it this weekend but I was in PA visiting my family.

Nicolas Cage topped the North American box office for the second time this year on Sunday with "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," a sequel to the biggest movie of his career.

The action-adventure led a crowded field of high-powered newcomers to sell an estimated $45.5 million worth of tickets since opening Friday, distributor Walt Disney Pictures said.

The three-day sum, which was in line with expectations, compares with a $35 million launch for 2004's "National Treasure," which went on to make $173 million.

I just watched the trailer and it looks so good. I can't wait to see it.

Rush responds to Huckabee: "There are people on his Arkansas staff who know full well how to reach me"

Rush isn't into playing the disingenuous political game that Huckabee is apparently playing:

"Gov. Huckabee's campaign is engaged in identity politics at this moment, so I understand his adviser's/supporter's intent to put the focus on me rather than the substance of my commentary," he tweaked.

And as for Huckabee's plea for Limbaugh to get in touch, the man behind the golden EIB microphone said this: [T]here are people on his Arkansas staff who know full well how to reach me and they have not. But that is not necessary to me. We're not playing in a kindergarten sandbox here. We are all presumably adults."

Limbaugh did, though, offer a timely coda: "I wish Gov. Huckabee a Merry Christmas."

(via)

Hypocrite Romney accuses McCain of not supporting Bushes taxes cuts

Ugh! Here is what happens when you don't appear to have core values and change given the circumstances. From 2003:

Governor Mitt Romney refused yesterday to endorse tax cuts at the heart of President Bush's economic program, but he told members of the state's congressional delegation during a private meeting he also would not oppose the cuts because he has to maintain "a solid relationship" with the White House.

Here is what he had to say about his hypocrisy:

Turning back to 2003, Romney told the man: "You see, I wasn't a U.S. senator. I didn't have to vote on this, didn't get a choice to. I was running my state, so I didn't have a comment on their position. And I said, `I'm not weighing in on federal issues.' But Senator McCain was a senator. He had to vote. He had to decide, `Am I in favor of pursuing these tax cuts or not?' and he voted against the tax cuts — twice. That's a very different position."

If he actually believed in supply-side economics, he would have defended Bush's tax cuts in 2003 and his reply to the question makes it obvious that he doesn't get it now.

I wonder if National Review realized this before they endorsed him. Why would a conservative magazine endorse a candidate who doesn't believe in supply-side economics?

Hindus upset over use of gods on underwear

Hey! This is America where you can buy all kinds of blasphemous products. Nobody cares about "hurting religious sentiments:"

India's eastern state of Orissa has lodged a protest with the US government seeking action against a California-based website for hurting religious sentiments of people by selling undergarments with images of Hindu gods, a newspaper reported Friday. Hindu priests and religious groups had slammed the website, cafepress.com, for selling undergarments embellished with faces of several gods and goddesses, including the presiding deities of Jagannath temple, considered among the most sacred Hindu temples in India.

(via)

She blinked!

I think Obama won this staring contest.

"All I can do is hope that Rush loves me as much as I love Rush."

Huckabee kissing the tushie of one of the most powerful conservative voices in American politics. Not smart to tick him off:

"I love Rush Limbaugh; I've always loved his show," Huckabee assured. "I think he’s been great for the conservative movement."

The former Arkansas governor conceded that he hadn't sought Limbaugh out to set the record straight — but that he would like to.

"I don’t have his number," Huckabee explained. "If you have it, Jonathan, why don’t you give it to me. I’d love to talk to him."

"Maybe put it on the Web that if he’ll call me, I’d love to visit with him."

Stung by an anonymous Huckabee supporter's comments to Marc Ambinder that derided the influential talker as taking his cues from the "D.C./Manhattan chattering class," Limbaugh used his Friday show to defend himself.

[...]

He called the attacks "Clintonian" and accused Huckabee's campaign of "trying to dumb down conservatism in order to get it to conform with his record."

Yep, that's about right. Good thing for Huckabee that Limbaugh is going to be in reruns this week.

(via)

Tancredo may have endorsed Romney but...

His Iowa campaign chairman endorsed Thompson:

Sure, Thompson won the endorsement of influential conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa. And despite losing out on Rep. Tom Tancredo's endorsement when the Colorado congressman dropped out of the presidential race and backed Mitt Romney, the next day Tancredo's Iowa campaign chairman endorsed Thompson.

Thompson's Christmas ad

Is a thank you to the troops! What a wonderful ad it made me tear up. It's my new favorite.

(via)

Severed pigs heads placed in Jesus's cradle

Sick, very sick:

Two front yard Nativity Scenes had baby Jesus replaced with severed pigs heads. It sounds like something out of a horror movie but it happened at two homes in Northwest Eugene.

"It was disgusting," says resident Shannon Cooper. "We can't even understand where a person would come up with an idea like that." Shannon and her husband Ron are reacting to a severed pigs head. It was an unexpected and unwanted addition to their front yard nativity scene placed in the cradle where a missing baby Jesus was supposed to lay.

Just down the street, David Stahl's family discovered the same thing. "It just makes you sick. it's beyond disgusting," says Stahl.

Police are investigating these as "biased crimes" which are essentially the same as a hate crime because they are targeted at a specific relgion, gender, or race. Lieutenant Scott Fellman of the Eugene Police Department says, "This is a religious display and it's entirely possibly this happened because of that."

The Stahl's put away their creche and the Coopers bought a new Jesus. The vandals have one.

The Wii-like Cell Phone

Available only in Japan:

More videos here.

Congress cleaning up its mess before Christmas recess

The AMT was finally patched just in time for Christmas break but there will still be a delay in getting your refund and it will be back next year because the patch is only good for this year:

'Twas the night before Christmas, or just about so,
All Congressmen and Senators straight home wished to go.

Then what to our wondering eyes did appear,
But a tax called "alternative," which the middle class fears.

[...]

So Reid and Pelosi, they finally surrendered,
And decided to patch it, lest voters be angered.

But the Grinch AMT, it just won't disappear.
Unless Congress kills it, it will resurface next year.

Brody spoofs Huckabee's ad

With a floating cross and Bible.

Huckabee's Christmas ad played backwards

It doesn't say "Paul is dead."

Rice calls Huckabee's criticism "ludicrous"

Not too smart to tick off the Bush administration:

In a brief foray into politics, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday denounced comments by a leading Republican presidential candidate that the Bush administration's foreign policy is arrogant and unilateral.

"The idea that somehow this is a go-it-alone policy is just simply ludicrous," she said at a State Department news conference. "One would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is now a go-it-alone foreign policy."

Her remarks came in response to a question about criticism from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has surged in the polls to become a front-runner in the upcoming Iowa caucuses for the GOP presidential nomination. Huckabee recently said the administration's foreign policy was characterized by a "bunker mentality."

[...]

"We have right now probably the strongest trans-Atlantic relations ... I would say in a very long time," Rice said, noting in particular Britain, France and Germany.

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Thompson: “We don’t wear any hats unless they’re our own”

In your face, Politico!

(via)

Hand Bell Hero

Try it out. The bell ringers didn't like me too much.

(via the king of the timewasters)

Thompson wins Michelle Malkin online poll

Just barely beating Ron Paul!

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The Breakdancing Jesus

Um...well...um...I can't quite get what is the point of the video. Is it implying that Mary didn't give birth to Jesus but was a fully grown man who came to earth from heaven?

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McCain's Christmas ad

As long time readers (I know that we have a couple) know, I'm not a McCain supporter at all but I thought his Christmas ad was quite moving and it made me tear up. Allahpundit thinks he might have been pandering to Christians, reminding us that he was one of us but I don't care if he was, I thought it was moving and was a wonderful story to share this time of year.

Frank J. endorses Thompson

You mean he wasn't a Thompson supporter already?

But we can't just go by our gut. Let's compare the main attributes of Fred Thompson versus the other candidates:

Fred Thompson: Teh Awesome

Other Candidates: Teh Suck

[...]

I should note, though, that the most important factor in IMAO endorsing Fred Thompson is that I already have an awesome t-shirt designed for him which will pretty much go to waste if he isn't the nominee. And it's not like I can just move that slogan to whoever the Republican nominee is, because, come on, do you think a tough slogan like that is going to work with Romney or hyuk-hyuk-Huckabee? No. Fred Thompson is the only Republican with the awesomeness to pull that off.

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Huckabee and the Reconstructionists

I was reading Novak's hit piece on Huckabee last night before I went to bed and I was stunned to read this:

Huckabee's base is reflected by sponsors of Tuesday's fundraising luncheon (requesting up to $4,600 a couple) at the Houston home of Steven Hotze, a leader in the highly conservative Christian Reconstruction movement. State Rep. Debbie Riddle was the only elected official on the host committee, most of whose members were not familiar names in Texas politics. David Welch is executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council. Jack Tompkins heads a firm providing Internet services to the Christian community. Entrepreneur J. Keet Lewis is an active Southern Baptist.

When Huckabee said that he wanted to take this nation back for Christ he wasn't kidding! (Now, this doesn't mean that Huckabee is a reconstructionist and I'm not accusing him of guilt by association, I'm kind of kidding when I say this. But I think it's something he should be asked about before people start voting.)

For those of you who don't know, a reconstructionist is a Christian who believes that the nations will be ruled by God through the church. It's setting up a theocracy in America. These guys are serious about doing it. Usually they are postmillenialists who believe that Jesus will reign through the church for a 1,000 years but I found out that there's a group who have premils (those who believe that Jesus was return and rule over the nations for 1,000 years), amils (those who believe that Christ will return at any time because the 1,000 years is symbolic just like all the other numbers in Revelation) and postmils. Steven Hotze is a signatory of their manifesto, "A Manifesto for the Christian Church."

From their "Articles of Affirmation and Denial on the Kingdom of God:"

We affirm that the term Kingdom of God has several applications and may denote (a) the universal rule of Christ over all things, both redeemed and non-redeemed; (b) the special, saving rule of Christ over His people: (c) the life, wisdom, holiness, power, and authority that Christ grants to His people; or (d) the permeating influence of the Word and Spirit in the world.

We deny (a) that the term Kingdom of God refers only to the providential rule of the Triune God, and (b) that Christ’s rule and realm are limited to the Church.

[...]

We deny (a) that anyone can pray the Lord’s Prayer with sincerity and understanding without desiring that increasing numbers of individuals, private groups, and civil states should grow in obedience to the will of God the Father, and (b) that Christians need to agree in advance to what extent Christ’s Kingdom will be operational on earth prior to His second coming before they can work together humbly and productively.

[...]

We affirm that the Kingdom task of making disciples of all nations requires us to hold forth the Bible as God’s standard and plumb line by which to measure the justice, morality, and practice of all human endeavors in all jurisdictions—individual, voluntary association, family, church, and civil government.

I'm not a reconstructionist so I don't agree with the above statements. Jesus was pretty clear about this:

John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world."

I believe that when we share the gospel to a lost and dying world that we are sharing the good news that Jesus Christ died for those who couldn't follow the law (meaning everyone). The gospel isn't about adherence to the law, it's about our lack of adherence to the law. Obedience to the law apart from Christ means absolutely nothing. Why would we burden people with a law they cannot keep? Our job isn't to call people to repentance apart from Christ but call people to Christ in repentance.

Romney: It depends on what the meaning of the word "saw" is

How Clintonian!

Mr. Romney said today that he had been using the word “saw” in a “figurative sense.”

“If you look at the literature, if you look at the dictionary, the term ‘saw’ includes being aware of in the sense I’ve described,” he said. “It’s a figure of speech and very familiar and it’s very common and I saw my dad march with Martin Luther King. I did not see it with my own eyes but I saw him in the sense of being aware of his participation in that great effort.”

Sometimes you've just got to admit when you've made a mistake and move on. That makes so much more sense than to do mental gymnastics coming up with a plausible excuse.

Reading between the lines of another negative report from Politico

OK, this time I didn't fall for their negative reporting. I read between the lines and discovered some positive news for Thompson's supporters. He appears to be running a very smart campaign by focusing on creating a buzz and letting the local media advertise for him. He's maximizing each stop by focusing on key areas instead of spending hours hanging out on a street corner waiting to shake hands with any random person who walks by:

Thompson’s bus tour is aimed less at retail, one-on-one politicking than at earning media attention to compensate for his lack of ads and direct mail.

Daily “Radio Town Halls,” coordinated with local radio stations, are a potentially smart way to do that. Akin to a weekend “live remote” from, say, a car dealership or restaurant, stations broadcast Thompson’s events live with questions of their own mixed with those from the audience.

Meanwhile, Thompson is visiting small-town newspapers every day. A 15-minute chat with the editors at The Tipton Conservative, for example, will likely merit him a front-page photo and story in next week’s edition.

He is also visiting businesses on or near the main drag, meeting few people but perhaps garnering do-you-know-who-stopped-in-the-other-day buzz.

Though the media and some voters expect Iowans to be greeted by each of the candidates personally:

“Iowa expects that you’re going to come see them,” Muscatine County GOP activist Marilyn Wedel said, after a Thompson tour that consisted of sticking his head into two stores for a total of 15 minutes.

[...]

“We haven’t seen as much of him,” said Janet Rudolph after a radio town hall meeting in Coralville. “I get a phone call from Mitt Romney every day.”

OK, these prima donnas in Iowa are starting to tick me off. Who the heck died and made them in charge of selecting our nominee? I think each state should get the chance to be the first state to cast a vote for president. These people are too spoiled by their position and act like petulant 2 year olds who don't get their way when a presidential candidate doesn't spend hours listening to their problems or promise to underwrite their corn corp or something. It makes me want to kick them every time I read their complaints. Spoiled, little whiny brats. Go to the corner until you have a change of attitude. No more political pandering for you, missy!

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“Long Live the Islamic State”

An al Qaeda torture chamber uncovered in Iraq.

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Scott Ott singing Christmas carols

It's kind of annoying that someone can be so brilliantly funny and have a really good singing voice to boot. Go sing along with Scott Ott (if you can remember the words :-)

Tancredo Endorses Romney

I didn't even know he dropped out of the race:

Tom Tancredo endorsed Mitt Romney at a press conference at the Mariott Hotel in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, today. Tancredo said that he met with Romney this morning and that he is convinced the former Massachusetts governor is committed to securing the borders and ending sanctuary cities.

[...]

Tancredo hinted in his opening remarks that the timing of his endorsement was meant to slow the rise of Mike Huckabee and confirmed this later in response to a question. "It was important in making a decision," he said. "You bet your life it was."

Well, I'm glad he's gone! He hung in way too long and it clears out another competing conservative.

Here's Scott Ott's take.