HEY MIKE, KARMA'S A BITCH, ISN'T IT?

Thanks to the extraordinary La Shawn Barber, the full text of the ethics charges filed by the North Carolina Bar Association against Mike Nifong are available for viewing here.

My prayer and hope is that this is the beginning of the end for the hell through which this prosecutor out of control has put the families of three young men since March of 2006.

Kudos to the North Carolina Bar Association for having the brains and the courage to deal with this debacle.

FINAL NOTE RE: THE LATE PRESIDENT FORD

Yesterday morning on the news, a clip was shown of the ceremony where President William Jefferson Clinton presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to President Gerald R. Ford, with the remarks that President Ford put the nation's best interests ahead of politics.

Does William Jefferson Clinton ever really listen to what he is saying? And does he ever relate it to his own actions?

Apparently not!

PICKING OVER BONES NOT YET COLD, ARE WE BOB?

Literary vampire Bob Woodward barely waited until President Gerald R. Ford's funeral arrangements were announced to make his own announcement - that he's writing another book. Thereupon, the entire liberal world shuddered with anticipation! According to an article in today's L.A. Times (hardly a reliable source, but what the hell), former President Gerald R. Ford, said in an interview conducted little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion, "I don't think I would have gone to war," he is reported by Woodward to have said about the Iraq invasion. An invasion, incidentally, which was advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration. [Note - that interview would have been conducted more than 2 years ago.]

Gee, Bob, you'll do damned near anything to line your own pockets, won't you?

In an article appearing today in the New York Daily News Thomas M. DeFrank details his 2-hour lunch on May 11, 2006 with the late President, an account which is at odds with Woodward's claimed interview.

Since Mr. DeFrank's lunch was much more recent than the interview by Mr. Woodward, hmmmm - whose account deserves credence?

Why I do believe I will put my faith in Mr. DeFrank and his loving memory of his last encounter with President Ford, rather than trust the liberal press!

JOHN F. KERRY - CLUELESS AND ALONE!

Ben of Mesopotamia has an exceptional post up regarding John Kerry’s visit to Iraq. Suffice it to say, you could almost feel sorry for the junior senator from Massachusetts! Almost.

Rest in Peace, Good and Faithful Servant

Photo courtesy of FoxNews.com

WHAT IS MIKE NIFONG SMOKING? AND WHY ARE THE RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS PERMITTING THIS NONSENSE TO CONTINUE?

Prosecutor-run-amok Mike Nifong has dropped the rape charges against the three Duke lacrosse players but let the sexual assault and kidnapping charges stand.

Why?

If the accuser’s statements are not, as Nifong himself admits, sufficiently reliable to prove rape, how then is she credible enough to prove sexual imposition or assault, let alone kidnapping?

If neither rape nor sexual imposition/assault can be proved, how can kidnapping be proved? Stop and think, just for one moment, about the exceptional seriousness of this particular charge. Even IF the accuser was even halfway credible, isn't this charge overkill?

Why was kidnapping even charged against these boys? She came to the house willingly, nothing happened to her (except possibly getting her feelings hurt by someone and it is by no means certain that these three boys were the ones who did that), and clearly she was intimate with three other disparate men either earlier in the evening or later in the evening, NONE OF THEM her boyfriend OR a Duke lacrosse player. My mama used to have a name for that kind of behavior. So do I.

Greta Van Susteren had an in-depth look at this case on her program over the weekend and has been following the botched investigation and insane indictments closely. I think that Jeannine Piro said it best when she opined that Nifong is either incompetent or “something more sinister”.

Now the lawyers of the three victims (the accused players) are demanding that the U.S. attorney general look into the prosecutor’s conduct during the entire case and are seeking federal intervention.

Nifong is claiming that the defense is committing character assassination? The man is clearly demented in my view! The defense is not committing defamation, they are committing DEFINITION of Nifong’s cynical misuse of the accuser’s multiple and contradictory stories and the racial element involved in this supposed case in order to further his own re-election agenda. In so doing, it is my belief that he is doing a major disservice to every future rape victim (white or black) by making the prosecution of properly identified assailants who are tied by DNA to the crime more difficult than it should be. He is showing himself to be both a despicable human being and a wholly incompetent public official who does not effectively serve the public by whom he was elected.

The true victims in this case are the improperly accused lacrosse players, their families and the entire community of Raleigh/Durham. Mr. Nifong should be recalled by the voters he duped with his prosecutorial misconduct. Criminal charges and/or civil action should then follow.

This man must be held up to all in his community, as well as throughout the nation, as an horrible example of the horrors of criminal “justice” gone completely off the rails and, perhaps, prosecutorial evil.

Alberto Gonzales has been asked to look into the matter. Many (including me) have written the N.C. State Bar Association complaining of Nifong’s conduct. On Greta Van Susteren’s show she had five prosecutors who ALL opined that Nifong was totally wrong in what he was doing at a minimum and some (like Jeannine Piro) had much stronger language for his conduct. Prosecutors do NOT normally criticize their brethren, so for five of them to do so in one place at one time is significant.

NIFONG MUST GO! And sooner, rather than later!

A woman in desperate need of unemployment!

(the one on the LEFT in every way)

HAVING A MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Over the past month or so, I have felt a compulsion to attend Christmas Mass at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church in Cleveland, Ohio – a church I have not even seen since 1958 when we moved away from the neighborhood. Which is why I headed out driving North from Columbus really early yesterday morning. This had an unintended benefit. NOBODY was on the roads between here and there! In fact, to avoid speeding I put the car in cruise control. This was after I noticed that I was inadvertently going 85 on a very straight stretch of I-71! Speeding tickets are not the kind of way I want to remember Christmas!

When I arrived on the west side of Cleveland, the first thing that struck me was that there was very little recognizable of the old neighborhood, although I drove by the house on Joan Avenue where I grew up and it seemed to be in reasonable condition, as indeed was the entire street. A bit shabby around the edges perhaps and certainly smaller than I remembered, but then, it IS winter. I drove west up Lorain Avenue (thanks to the lack of traffic, I had about 45 minutes to mosey around before Mass) and spotted a couple of well loved landmarks. The branch of the Cleveland Public Library where I spent an inordinate amount of time as a child, particularly during the summer months (they had air conditioning long before many homes were so blessed AND I love to read) and the old Variety theater was still standing. Mind you, it was closed, but at least it was still THERE. It was the only time and place I ever indulged in rock candy – which probably explains the state of my teeth!

I hate to recall how many times my father had to come drag me out of the Variety when I was a kid. I’d go up there for the Saturday matinees with my friends. My companions would go home on time. I would always want to see the movies that showed AFTER 6 p.m. which seemed a LOT more interesting than the kid’s fare in the afternoons!

I even passed a "Kucinich for President" storefront and saluted it in suitable fashion!

Finally, I drove over to the still-beautiful church at the corner of Lorain Avenue and West Boulevard. The "neighborhood" used to be comprised of mostly Irish families and it has changed, perhaps for the better. I saw a lovely patchwork quilt congregation of devout Asian, Hispanic, African-American as well as the expected Irish families (and a scattering of surprisingly well behaved and truly adorable babies - a good sign and so appropriate for the season). The pastor is a boy with whom I attended grammar school. And he has snow white hair! (sigh)

The beautiful marble interior seemed so much smaller than I remembered, yet so safe and familiar. When the carillon in the very tall spire of that still magnificent church started to herald the beginning of Mass, I was absolutely slammed with memories. I wept quietly throughout most of the service, so filled with the mostly joyous (and sometimes painful) remembrances of my childhood. When I left, I was somehow lighter for the experience. Clearly, my subconscious knew I needed to unload a burden, and unload I did!

Incidentally, if you do happen to live in the Cleveland area, I highly recommend a visit to St. Ignatius of Antioch for a Sunday mass. It’s an extraordinary experience.

After Mass, carefully following my Yahoo! map, I drove to my cousin Ernie’s house – arriving about 2 hours earlier than intended, again due to light traffic! But they were up and doing and I was able to have a good visit with Ernie that I might not have been able to enjoy had I arrived at the intended hour.

The whole family was there and we had a lovely, loving day filled with good companionship and great food. There are NO bad cooks in my family. The ham and turkey were stupendous. The cheesy potatoes were superb. The yams were great and the bread and biscuits absolutely luscious. The stuffed tomatoes were outrageously good. I kind of lost track of all the yummy food on the table, but I made it my business to taste at least a little of everything and enjoyed every savory morsel. I have never had curried fruit. Wow! I have been missing something.

The one thing I didn’t eat was the stuffed cabbage. I made it and brought it for my cousins’ enjoyment. After we made some inroads on clearing away the dishes, the desserts were brought out. Cousin Scott, our multi-talented pilot and wood splitter, made a luscious pecan pie. I don’t normally like pecan pie – but I really enjoyed tasting Scott’s offering. I made a homemade cheesecake (using the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe). It seemed to be quite popular.

As I drove home, far more slowly due to far heavier traffic AND some very annoying rain showers, it occurred to me that there really is nothing to compare with being with those you love on a holiday. Gifts aren’t the reason we gather together (although I LOVED mine) – we gather together to feel that connection to one another and our past lives while sharing laughter and, sometimes, a few tears. We gather to watch the progress of the young ones growing up. We gather to share the love that binds us as a family and to make note of the fact that, at least in my family, my cousins are still a doggone good looking bunch of people, even though most of us have got a bit of mileage on us these days!

I wish for all of you who read this that your Christmas was filled with the same happiness and love that I enjoyed. I further pray for all of you that 2007 is a year of health, love and safety.

And finally – showing my opinion of the ACLU – God bless us, every one!

SOMETIMES A KITTY JUST CAN'T CATCH A BREAK!

Monday the cats were most unhappy that I got up early and went to work. But that’s their normal state of angst.

However, on Tuesday they were sequestered in the spare room with the door closed because the cleaning crew was due to come and run the dreaded vacuum cleaner. Never mind that a big cushion is placed in there for them. Forget the fact that their food dishes, water dishes and grit box are all conveniently arrayed around the room, each of these disparate functions located in separate portions of a fairly good sized room. Sam dislikes being tucked away on cleaning day because it is HIS JOB to attack and, possibly, destroy the vacuum cleaner as well as anyone wielding it. Also, there were unknown persons in HIS house and that never sits well with my bodyguard cat! Tim, on the other hand, was unhappy because there were potential new admirers in the house and he was unable to make their acquaintance. Tim is firmly convinced that anyone who comes to our house is there specifically to see him! He could be right!

Yesterday, however, was the worst day of the week – at least for young Tim. For those who haven’t been introduced to this rather fey creature, Tim is a Bluepoint Siamese, just 27 months of age. He is possessed of more than his normal share of feline curiosity and a level of giddy energy that is astounding. Particularly to his big “brother” Sam who, at nearly 6 years of age, is more phlegmatic and, he thinks, dignified. As a result of his unfettered nosiness, Tim considers it his prerogative to investigate any and all parcels coming into or leaving the house (including the trash) and any and all cupboards and closets that are in the house. This is why I do a “cat count” every morning before leaving for work.

Yesterday morning, however, I had my mind firmly focused on a couple of errands I needed to do en route to the office (and I only live 3-1/2 miles from work, so I usually have ample time), so I neglected my normal precautions.

I'm sure you've already guessed that when I returned from work last night I saw Sam splayed comfortably on his favorite ottoman, sound asleep. So far so good. But no peppy little majordomo came to greet me. I went into the bedroom, thinking that perhaps Tim was taking a nice long nap also. No Tim. I checked my bedroom closets. Nope.

Finally I heard a pathetic little mewling sound from the direction of the living room, and I then realized that young Tim had darted into the pantry closet and had gotten stuck there for the whole day.

Ever seen a cat run with his back paws crossed? I did last night! My suspicion is that Tim barely made it to the grit box – but bless his little heart, he hadn’t done anything in the closet although he’d been there for 9 hours! I have no doubt he was sleeping most of that time.

After he’d made himself more comfortable, Tim came galloping onto my lap demanding affection and attention and lots of it. After 5 minutes of that, he jumped off my lap and proceeded to patrol the entire apartment for a good 2 hours – complaining non-stop. He would trot over to my lap once in a while, give me a head butt, and then he’d be back to his rounds, with occasional stops to annoy Sam who apparently was in Tim’s bad books because Sam hadn’t released Tim from the closet!

It didn’t help any that I was helpless with laughter through a lot of this. You know, cats consider themselves far too superior to be the object of laughter.

I love my cats. They fascinate, comfort and amuse. Their love is uncritical and their personalities are diverse. There is really no end to the complete delight afforded by a well raised and loved feline creature! And since I live with two wholly individual cats, I am doubly blessed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

IT'S PAST TIME THIS FARCE CAME TO AN END!

I mailed this letter today, December 20, 2006.


THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR
208 Fayetteville Street
PO Box 25908
Raleigh, NC 27611-5908

Disciplinary Hearing Commission: F. Lane Williamson, Chair, Carlyn G. Poole, Vice-Chair, Sharon B. Alexander, W. Steven Allen Sr., Stephen E. Culbreth, Charles M. Davis, Karen Eady-Williams, Michael A. Grace, Tommy W. Jarrett, T. Richard Kane, John M. May, M. Ann Reed

REFERENCE: Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong

Dear Commissioners:

I have watched with mounting horror as rogue prosecutor, Mike Nifong, has trampled the civil rights of three male college students in his relentless drive for political gain.

He is prosecuting three young men for a rape which probably didn’t even occur. But then how would Prosecutor Nifong know? He has NEVER interviewed the indicted lacrosse players OR the accuser. He has ignored DNA evidence, the supposed victim’s multiple versions of events and even conspired with the testing laboratory to withhold exculpatory evidence from the defense (http://www.lashawnbarber.com/DNA_Motion_with_Attachments[1].pdf). His conduct of the photo lineup was execrable procedure at best and downright prejudicial and dishonest. Further, although exculpatory evidence of an uncompromising sort has been presented on behalf of at least one of the indicted students, Mr. Nifong has chosen to ignore that AND attempt to intimidate one of the defense witnesses, the taxicab driver, by attempting to have him arrested on thin to transparently untrue charges. He played the alleged rape charges to the hilt prior to the primary election and claimed that if the DNA evidence did not support the accuser’s charges, he would drop them. It didn’t and he didn’t. To say that this man is a reprehensible, racist, cynical huckster is to be restrained in my description of Nifong. I have to say that all I could think about during this pre-primary period was the Sam Sheppard case here in Ohio – the conviction that F. Lee Bailey got overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court due to prejudicial pre-trial publicity.

Mr. Nifong is flagrantly violating North Carolina law and common decency and holding the State Bar of North Carolina up to public ridicule on a daily basis because you have apparently chosen to do nothing about his prosecutorial misconduct for many months. I can assure you, based on personal knowledge, this would not happen in the State of Ohio. The Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court answers his own phone so he is accessible to all citizens and all attorneys know this. I myself was the legal assistant to one of the now-retired justices, Hon. J. Craig Wright, an irascible but brilliant attorney and judge. So I am not indulging in ignorant blathering here. What Nifong is doing is wrong in so many ways that I was stumped as to how to begin this letter!

Something must be done about this case forthwith. Since nobody else seems to be willing to act in a definitive manner, I’m very much afraid that it’s on your shoulders.

Three young men have already had their lives effectively ruined to a greater or lesser extent by this prosecutor run amok. Their parents have been forced into expending great sums of money to defend and protect their sons from what are demonstrably bogus charges. Since it becomes increasingly certain that this case is wholly frivolous, the State of North Carolina and the City of Durham are already facing substantial financial consequences. Bringing this farce to a halt sooner rather than later might reduce the liability a bit.

Respectfully yours,

At a press conference this morning, a renowned 'beltway insider' confirmed that an archeological team from the National Geographic Society digging in Washington DC have unearthed the 17,000 year old bones and fossilized remains of what scientists now believe to be the very first politician.

h/t P-Jo

Senators Trek to Damascus, Defying White House Policy

In an article written by Eli Lake, a staff reporter of the New York Sun it is reported that, ". . . defying requests from the White House, four senators are making a pilgrimage to Damascus. "

The four, who are or soon will be in violation of the Logan Act, are Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida (who met yesterday with President al-Assad), the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, who will be visiting Mr. Assad in the coming days, Senator Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania who attended Hafez al-Assad's funeral in 2000 and is slated to visit Syria in the near future, and Senator Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, who was urged by Foggy Bottom not to follow through on his plans to visit the Syrian leader during a trip to the region in April.

The diplomacy from the lawmakers represents a challenge to the Bush administration, which is now weighing advice from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to engage Syria and Iran in an effort to corral the regimes into helping stem the violence in Iraq. The study group also recommended that America pursue a peace deal between Syria and Israel that involves Israel ceding the Golan Heights to Syria.

For your edification, the Logan Act does apply:

§ 953. Private correspondence with foreign governments.
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

18 U.S.C. § 953 (2004)

Apparently these "independent" diplomats believe that, in the recent election, THEY were somehow gifted with powers that equal those of the President of the United States, who has the sole rights and responsibility for conducting our nation's foreign policy. In addition, they are clearly unconcerned that their behavior is sending a clear signal to governments hostile to our own that our President is somehow impaired in his prerogatives and thus, they will make it MORE difficult for the President and the State Department to effect any kind of influence over these regimes who are aiding and abetting the so-called insurgency in Iraq, not to mention aiding and abetting such rogue organizations as Hamas and Hezbollah who consistently and unrepentently threaten the well-being and survival of the State of Israel and Israeli citizens.

As I have said before, many of these middle eastern nations have only an imperfect understanding of how our Republic operates and view our nation and its government through the prism of their own political realities.

It is my belief that the passports of all four of these misdirected amateur diplomats should be revoked - preferably while they are off our soil. We don't need their "help" and we certainly would be better off without any of the four of them. My cat Sam could do their jobs better than they could - which sets the bar for the governors of their respective states replacing them pretty doggone low!

But that's my opinion. Feel free to weigh in. The one thing that is FACT, not opinion, is that these four ARE violating the Logan Act and that is intolerable hubris!

UPDATE:

At Yahoo News we find the following:

CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2004, said on Thursday the U.S. administration should engage in dialogue with Syria and Iran.

“I think it’s important to talk and have dialogue, but you don’t give up your principles and you don’t make deals that are against your larger interest,” Kerry told reporters after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.“Syria needs to understand that and Iran needs to understand that, but I think it’s important to begin a discussion,” added Kerry, a Massachusetts senator.

WHAT IN THE NAME OF HELL DO THESE ASININE IDIOTS THINK THEY ARE DOING?

LET’S ALL JUST TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND STEP BACK!

Already the Internet is awash in stories of all the candidates for the presidency in 2008 (in HRC’s case, those rumors started back in 1999 – but I digress).

Folks, it isn’t my intention to attempt to stifle free speech and all - but seriously, we just HAD the mid-term elections – slightly over a month ago! Could we all just step back, take a deep breath and wait – LIKE A YEAR OR SO – before we start the next election cycle?

I mean, it isn’t like anyone can take seriously the already-declared candidate (the embarrassing troll Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) who is apparently STILL looking for women willing to date him – as if), or even the ones being pushed by the mainstream media idiots.

Joe Biden? Give me a freaking break. The man has the IQ of wheat germ.

Barack Hussein Obama? Wouldn’t it be a novel idea if he actually ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING before throwing his hat in the ring? And does anyone seriously believe that HRC is going to tolerate him sucking the oxygen out of HER buzz?

Senator John F. Kerry, not satisfied with being largely absent from the U.S. Senate during the entirety of his last run for the presidency, believes that the American public will allow him to pull that stunt again in 2008. It is a given that the Massachusetts taxpayers are notoriously willing to tolerate that nonsense from its politicians, but apparently Edward M. Kennedy (D-Stoly) has decided that one shot at the big score was all the glory to which John “Futile” Kerry was entitled and Teresa is back to using “Heinz” as her last name, so one suspects little or no support will be forthcoming in THAT quarter.

We American voters are weary, all y’all. We’ve heard enough obfuscations, “nuance” and general untruths to last us a while and we’d be really really grateful if all the politicians would just shut the hell up until, oh I don’t know, JANUARY of 2008?

Thank you for your consideration!

FROM OUT OF THE [POLITICAL] WILDERNESS!

Now comes the voice of Tom DeLay, the much maligned former Congressman, who has started his own blog - and a brilliantly conceived one it is.

Welcome to the blogsphere. Your site has already become a must-read for me and I think it will for many others. My greatest hope for the next two years is that the current Republicans in Congress will grow some stones and perhaps prevent some of the nuttier Democratic ideas from coming to fruition. I think they'll find that, when they do, the American people will forgive them their many failures and trespasses.

The Religion of Peace

“Residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an official said yesterday, adding the edict will be implemented in three days.”

What more is there to say? It's barbaric, it's stone-age savagery, it's reprehensible.

h/t Ankle Biting Pundits

The 2006 Heisman Trophy Belongs To This Exceptional Young Man


This is a picture of the extraordinary young man named Troy Smith, quarterback of The Ohio State University Buckeyes football team.

Young Mr. Smith is a good student, a most humble and unselfish young man, an amazing quarterback and, oh yes, a Heisman candidate.

There are times when the insanity that swirls through our lives can threaten to overwhelm. I am, therefore, grateful for the occasional hint that there are better people out there in our world than can be found in Washington, D.C.,or in the pages of the mainstream media preaching doom, destruction and surrender.

If you don't watch the Heisman selection show on Saturday night, be sure to catch Mr. Smith's amazing talents dazzlingly on display in the BCS National Championship Game on January 8th, 2007, against the Florida Gators.

WHY BILL O’REILLY IS WRONG ABOUT JAMES EARL CARTER, JR.

Bill O’Reilly continues to insist that, as a former President, James Earl Carter, Jr. must be respected and, furthermore, not attacked by anyone for his personal views.

My response to that is simple: pfui!

When James Earl Carter, Jr. was sworn in as President, he swore on the Bible that he would “preserve, protect and defend” this country. He has since done, entirely too often, the exact opposite. But the height of his disloyalty to the nation which once honored him with the Presidency was to defame publicly, while our nation is at war, the current President of the United States, George W. Bush, while Mr. Carter was in a foreign country. That is despicable conduct and deserves any kind of opprobrium that can be heaped upon former President Carter.

Now from the widely respected Power Line blog comes a copy of an e-mail from Professor Kenneth Stein of Emory University and the Carter Center. To quote from Power Line:

“Professor Stein's expertise lies in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Our reader writes that when he was an undergraduate student at Emory in the mid-1990's, Professor Stein was one of the most revered, respected professors on campus, and that Professor Stein had a long-standing association with the Carter Center in his capacity as an expert in Middle East politics and history. Professor Stein was in fact the first director of the Carter Center (1983-1986.)”

And what does Professor Stein have to say in his e-mail?

“This note is to inform you that yesterday, I sent letters to President Jimmy Carter, Emory University President Jim Wagner, and Dr. John Hardman, Executive Director of the Carter Center resigning my position, effectively immediately, as Middle East Fellow of the Carter Center of Emory University. This ends my 23 year association with an institution that in some small way I helped shape and develop. My joint academic position in Emory College in the History and Political Science Departments, and, as Director of the Emory Institute for the Study of Modern Israel remains unchanged.”

Professor Stein goes on to discuss James Earl Carter, Jr.’s current book:

"President Carter's book on the Middle East, a title too inflammatory to even print, is not based on unvarnished analyses; it is replete with factual errors, copied materials not cited, superficialities, glaring omissions, and simply invented segments. Aside from the one-sided nature of the book, meant to provoke, there are recollections cited from meetings where I was the third person in the room, and my notes of those meetings show little similarity to points claimed in the book. Being a former President does not give one a unique privilege to invent information or to unpack it with cuts, deftly slanted to provide a particular outlook. Having little access to Arabic and Hebrew sources, I believe, clearly handicapped his understanding and analyses of how history has unfolded over the last decade. Falsehoods, if repeated often enough become meta-truths, and they then can become the erroneous baseline for shaping and reinforcing attitudes and for policy-making. The history and interpretation of
the Arab-Israeli conflict is already drowning in half-truths, suppositions, and self-serving myths; more are not necessary. In due course, I shall detail these points and reflect on their origins."

It is clear that former President Carter is either delusional or dishonest at best; anti-Semitic at worst. Given his close friendship and support of the murdering thug Yasser Arafat, I have drawn my own conclusions and leave it to you to draw yours.

It may just be that it is past time for the former President to withdraw entirely from public life. He is harming the nation he swore to “preserve, protect and defend” and making an ass of himself in the process.

EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS MEME!

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Coffee Martini!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Everything wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Depends on my mood.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No way, Jose!

5. When do you put your decorations up? When I get around to it.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Leftovers.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: Any gift from my Great Aunt Ida. She always hid little surprises inside her presents. As an adult, any Christmas spent with Sis.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth about Santa?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I wait until Christmas Day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Never know until I do it.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love to watch it fall, love to know it’s on the ground. Love cold weather. Love to stay home in front of a fire with the kitties and just SNUGGLE.

12. Can you ice skate? Absolutely. Bad back and all.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I love to give gifts to people and spend a lot of effort accumulating a lot of goodies for each person on my rather tiny gift list. My favorite gift in recent years is probably the record player I received last year from friend Pam. It looks like an old fashioned radio but it has a CD player AND a turntable so it also plays 33-1/3, 45 and 78 rpm records AND it has a terrific AM/FM radio as well. Just a really fantastic gift!

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family and friends.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Homemade cookies and candy. I make my own dark chocolate truffles to give as gifts and roll them in chopped toasted hazelnuts. Yum.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching the Christmas Midnight Mass from St. Peters – just me and the kitties.

17. What tops your tree? I have an angel given to me by some former friends and I still honor our former friendship by using the angel.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Both. But the fun of finding just the right gift for the few people on my gift list is priceless. It's a way of showing them that I noticed their likes and dislikes, care about their comfort or convenience or pleasure and value their friendship.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? “Oh Holy Night!”

20. Candy canes: Don’t care for them and my bridgework likes them even less!

21. Favorite Christmas movie? Miracle on 34th Street

22. What do you leave for Santa? Sam the cat won’t let Santa in the door!

h/t: The Anchoress and Oh How I Love Jesus blogs.

A NEW BOONDOGGLE AT THE U.N.?

The U.N. building was built in 1951 and, as often happens with buildings in nearly non-stop use, it now requires substantial upgrades and renovations after over 55 years of service. The amount initially budgeted for this task was $700 million, a significant sum when you bear in mind that Donald Trump just built a luxury building right across the street for half that amount. But yes, renovations do frequently cost more.

Now we are hearing that the U.N. renovations will be costing $1.9 billion (of your dollars and mine principally since we still fund the lion's share of the anti-American U.N. budget, as well as the dollars of all the other member countries). No coherent explanation is available for this unconscionable jump in the projected cost and Donald Trump very much suspects the cost will reach closer to $3 billion!

Donald Trump – who knows a thing or three about construction of high rises as well as the renovations of same in Manhattan (which is a far different animal than the same work in say, Columbus, Ohio) was on Fox & Friends this morning absolutely excoriating Kofi Annan and the entire project which he insists should not cost more than the original $700 million – which is in itself a pretty huge sum of money.

What is more telling is that Mr. Trump tried to meet with Kofi Annan to discuss the proposed renovations and he says he quickly became aware that Mr. Annan knew nothing whatsoever about construction or the proposed project. In addition, he avers that within moments of them sitting down to talk, the doors to Anan’s office opened and in came the photographers! Clearly Kofi wanted “face time” but no substantive conversation.

Mr. Trump then claims that he met with the employee of the U.N. who will be supervising the renovations. He said that within a very short amount of time, he became convinced that this person had absolutely no clue about any construction terminology.

Mr. Trump has offered to spearhead the project and bring it in for the initial $700 million figure, which he claims is reasonable. His offer has been ignored. His take on the whole thing is that (a) the U.N. personnel are incompetent at best; and (b) this is another “Oil for Food” boondoggle.

Lest you think that Donald Trump is another right-winger attempting to smear the U.N., he made it very clear that he admired the U.N. and its work – up until about 10 years ago when, in his opinion, they became a useless organization accomplishing nothing and standing for nothing.

I’m not a fan of Donald Trump. But I find his criticisms to be utterly believable and logical.

Why are we still supporting this cancer on our nation's shores? It has no accountability, no ethical base and no real effect on world affairs, other than to offer a forum to a bunch of tinpot despots to call the President of the United States nasty names.

Write your Senators and Congressmen. It's unlikely that it will have an effect, but at least let them be on notice about what we think!

CROSS-COUNTRY SYNCHRONICITY

Was thinking this morning about the incredible stupidity of Gwyneth Paltrow and friend John B. in Los Angeles sent me the following:

Today's Fortune Cookie:
Hanlon's Razor:
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Works for me! Thanks John!

WHO AM I?

“Preserved in the permafrost of the Cold War is a piece of advice given by Pavel Sudoplatov, Stalin’s master spy, to an apprentice agent. Sudoplatov’s career in the Soviet secret service spanned three decades of Stalinism, and few understood better the brutal and complex psychology of spying.

When seeking to recruit a spy, Sudoplatov advised his underling that one should “search for people who are hurt by fate or nature — the ugly, those craving power or influence but defeated by unfavourable circumstances. In co-operation with us, all these find a peculiar compensation. The sense of belonging to an influential, powerful organisation will give them a feeling of superiority over the handsome and prosperous people around them.””

h/t Ace of Spades

To me, this is the description of a lot of liberals (although honesty compels me to state that John "Futile" Kerry jumps to mind too quickly).

So let's have a little game here and YOU name the person who fits the description in your view. No prizes, just recognition of your brilliance by me!

SOMETIMES THE MIND JUST REELS!

Last night on Hannity & Colmes, Alan Colmes was blathering away about Howard Dean reading a speech in Montreal in French and made the fatuous comment “We could have had a bilingual president!”

Note to Alan Colmes – for the record, you are demonstrably a moron. President George W. Bush IS bilingual. He is fluent in Spanish.

Unlike Howard Dean whose reading of a prepared text in French was rife with so many mispronounciations and stumbles over words that it was clear he doesn't really speak French - or if he does, he speaks it poorly.

What IS IT with liberals? Can they not see how absurd is their unreasoning hatred of our President and how utterly witless this hatred makes THEM look?

h/t Cousin Scott who stays up later than I do!

IT'S FRIDAY AND THE WEATHER IS FRIGHTFUL!

Across the country many people are being affected to a large or small degree by the onset of winter weather. There have been massive snowstorms - even in Seattle where friend Sandy got herself snowed in for a day or so - and here in Ohio we are under what can only be described as a "summer weather" set of warnings: tornado watches! The temperature here is plunging, the rain is whacking at us in varying degrees of ferocity and high wind warnings also abound.

So from me to you - stay safe and be careful if you're out on the roads. Y'all matter!

If you're looking for some really cogent and thought-provoking reading, head on over to The Anchoress who is a brilliant writer herself and links to other brilliant sites.

Over at Barking Moonbat Early Warning System there is a particularly horrifying story of an Afghan school teacher who was dragged from his home by Taliban scum and then partially disemboweled and dismembered. His sin? He ignored warnings from these Taliban fanatics who want girls not to be taught!

Me, I'm going to hunker down and get some file reorganization underway (in a law firm that is almost certainly a neverending process) and drink another cup of reasonably good coffee!