Going Where No Man Has Gone Before.... WHEN?

To Go Where No Man Has Gone Before…When?

Why is the US still using those old space trucks… the Shuttles? Why haven’t we gone on to fulfill man’s dream of one day walking on the stars?

It is long past the time when men should have been colonizing the moon and Mars. Why have we not done it… yet?

NASA is in deep trouble. She is on the verge of becoming irrelevant. That which the government will not do… private enterprise WILL do.

NASA has lost it’s focus on the one thing man craves more than anything else. Exploration. Just too see what’s over the next hill. In the case of space… just to see what’s out there. (Maybe WHO is out there!) It is a natural yearning buried deep within mankind and it will not be denied. Even the Scriptures tell us “without a vision the people perish”. We might add that without a vision NASA will most certainly perish!

Mars beckons! She hangs there, in the heavens, all her mysteries yet to be unveiled for the eyes of man. Oh yes, we have landed robots on the surface of Mars. But, try as they might, a robot is still a machine and cannot see the beauty and the poetry in the lines of the horizon of a distant world now devoid of habitation. A robot cannot feel the exuberance, the overflowing of joy in the human heart, to tread where no other human has trod before him. The metal machine cannot sense that unique feeling of accomplishment, in the human mind, upon the recognition that we have done what not other has been able to do.

All this can be summed up in one word: “ADVENTURE!” Humans crave adventure. Especially Americans. It is inherent in Americans. Our forefathers settled this new land by seeking adventure. They forever sealed our fate as adventurers. The inflowing of immigrants in recent years has damped that adventurous spirit somewhat. For the most part, they do no bring with them a thirst for adventure. That is not a “put down”. They bring many other gifts with them, but that singular craving for adventure is almost uniquely an American thing.

Many Americans have grown tired of watching space shuttles blast off to nowhere… and return from nowhere. We need to go SOMEWHERE!

We have, for the most part, the technology. What we do not now have… we will invent as we go. Let’s be about it. Times a wasting!

There are those who believe the stars are man’s original home. That may be. It may explain our urge to make our way back to the heavens from whence we came. Maybe our yearning, as we look at the brilliance of the night sky, is simply our desire to “go home again”.

I know the writer has said: “You can never go home again.” He’s wrong. You can go home again. It may not appear as it did when you left it, but you most certainly can return to it.

I think it’s past time to visit the stars… and in doing so; maybe we WILL go home again. We MUST find out! We MUST!

“Longstreet”

The Doctor is OUT!

Well, Doctor Frist is done. Finished. His ambition to be President, or even the GOP candidate for President will never be recognized. Senator Frist committed political suicide on the floor of the US Senate.

Senator Frist came out publicly in favor of Government supported stem cell research knowing it is flat-out against the platform of the Republican Party. Therefore, Senator Frist should immediately step down from his position as Majority Leader in the Senate.

Dr. Frist is a fine man and a great doctor, but he is inept as a politician. The last thing we Republicans need in the US Senate Majority Leader’s position is a leader who cannot lead.

This is the third major blunder of Frist’s reign as Majority Leader. He was “rolled” by the Democrats on the judicial filibuster deal. It appears he was completely blind-sided by the Republicans who joined the Democrats to form what has come to be called the “Gang of 14”.

The second major blunder of Frist’s leadership was the failure to get an up or down vote on John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations. The President will be forced to make a recess appointment of Bolton in a few days as a result.

There is no excuse for his error in judgment and his lack of attention to the movements of his own troops, the Republican Senators.

Senator Frist’s term in the Senate is up in 2006. Since his plans to run for President are now shredded, maybe he will simply go back to Tennessee and practice medicine. He has proven he cannot practice politics.

In the meantime, whom do we have to fill the position of Majority Leader? We need to make this change, ASAP, before the Roberts Hearings begin.

The doctor is OUT!

“Longstreet”

The Suicide of America !

The Suicide of America!

Well, I see from the news reports that our “testosterone challenged” leaders do not have the cajones to stay the course in Iraq. They are talking of a “pull-out” next year, which is about 47 years too soon. Anyone who has paid attention to this “war” knows this is way too soon to even contemplate a pullout. Call it what it is: A Retreat”!

And they wonder why recruitment is down? For God’s sake, don’t they understand that to pull our troops out of Iraq, and the Middles East, without victory, is a slap in the face to every wounded veteran, to every family, which lost a loved one in combat in Iraq, and a slap in the face to America herself. The world will see our military as slinking away, once again, with its tail between it’s legs.

This is a pathetic picture of a Super Power. A super power afraid of it’s own power. America has become a superpower, which does not deserve the title, (and apparently doesn’t want it).

What has happened to the American people? Has all the liberal teaching in our Public (read “Government”) Schools finally taken hold? Do Americans truly feel a sufficient amount of guilt for all the mis-happenings in the world that those in our own country, and yes, in our own government, have heaped upon us in an attempt to weigh us down… and finally, to cause a total collapse of the America we used to know.
It gives me immeasurable pain to admit that I no longer know this America. This is not the America I grew up in. This is not the America my family bled and died for. This is not the America whose history I studied in school and grew to love… even with its shortcomings. This is not the America I felt an obligation to serve as a soldier.

This is the America whose military was the best in the world, and knew it, right up until their leaders sold them out in Viet Nam.

This is the America whose President pulled our handful of troops out of Somalia after a number of our elite troops were slaughtered as a result of the US leadership not giving them the supplies and material they needed, and had asked for, to keep that very thing from happening.

This is the America, which presented such an example of “retreat under fire” that it emboldened Bin Laudin to say, “The Americans will run if you make them bleed”.

This is the America whose press is so anti-American, and anti-Military that they crow, aloud, when America suffers a defeat and especially when American soldiers lose their lives in combat.

This is an America whose government has adopted so much of the Socialist platform that it is now difficult to call us a capitalist nation anymore.

This is the America, which has chosen security over freedom.

This is an America preparing itself for the chains of defeat and socialism.

This is an America, which can no longer go to the Moon.

This is an America, which can’t even mount an old space truck onto a couple of gigantic rockets and send it into orbit without pieces of it falling off!

This is an America, which is just a shell of its former self… a shadow, a memory of its former greatness.

This is an America whose students can’t read and write but… they feel better about themselves than any students anywhere in the world. It’s called blind arrogance.

And this is an America whose military is about to be sold out, again… this time in Iraq. And they wonder why kids are not flocking to join? Don’t make me laugh!

Whatever happened to the America of yesteryear? The country we are today does not deserve to be called America. We can’t hold a candle to what we used to be. We were a “Can Do” nation. Now, we are an “Afraid to Try” nation!

We are pathetic! No wonder we are despised! We have earned it! We are despicable.

And the worse thing of all…I see no help for America in the immediate future.

We have become a nation of wimps! My God, people, we lose 1700 men in nearly three years of combat, in Iraq, and we’re screaming, “bring the troops home”! At Cold Harbor, in Virginia, during the Civil War, we lost 7,000 men in 20 minutes!

I can’t grasp this kind of thinking. We have far more deaths, a month, from shooting accidents, in the US, than we have had on the battlefields of Iraq in three years! Does this make any sense to you at all? ‘Cause it doesn’t to me!

I fear what we are watching, what we are a part of, is the “death throes” of the greatest nation to ever grace the planet!

And, worst of all… its suicide!

“Longstreet”

The ACLU vs Christianity

So now the ACLU has sued the state of North Carolina over using a Bible as the sole source of the Holy Scriptures.

You can immediately see the problem with that… if you are a Christian, that is. The problem, from the standpoint of a Christian, is simply this… the Bible IS the sole source of the Holy Scriptures! The acceptance of any other collection of inspirational verses, as Holy Scripture, is a sin for those of the Christian faith.

If a Moslem, or a Hindu, for instance, wishes to NOT swear on a Bible, here in North Carolina, … he or she can simple “affirm” they will testify to the truth. That is acceptable in this state. The same option is offered for those chosen for jury duty. Many Christians feel that “swearing on the Bible” is a sin. For those the State offers the “affirmation”.

There is something very wrong about this lawsuit. It is blatantly anti-Christian.

I simply do not believe this lawsuit by the ACLU, against North Carolina, is about the right to swear on your chosen “Holy Scriptures”. No, it has become clear to those of the Christian faith, in the United States, over the past few years, that the ACLU is bent on destroying any, and all, vestiges of the Christian faith in America.

Why does the ACLU hate us so much? Why do they see us as a threat so potent that they feel they must destroy us? Because, the Christian religion IS a threat to the ACLU. Christians are anti-Socialist and anti- Communist. Christians are the natural enemy of the ACLU. And they know it. They have been coming after us since their founding in 1920. Many of the founders of the ACLU were members of, or had association with, the Communist Party of the USA.

It would seem their goals have changed little since their founding. They still never miss a chance to strike out at Christian activity anywhere in the US. It leads one to believe their purpose is to eradicate the Christian religion in the USA. They have made a grand start.

Here is what the noted Communist Joseph Stalin said: “America, is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.”

Today, as in the past, we see the ACLU attacking America’s Patriotism, America’s Morality and America’s Spiritual Life. A coincidence? It would be a stretch to convince one’s self that it is.

The ACLU does not just dislike Christians… they hate us! As Christians, we are their chief enemy. Yet many professed Christians hold membership in the ACLU. How can this be? Even the Romans had no help from the early Christians in their campaign to destroy Christianity. But the ACLU does have it… in spades! Our “liberal churches” have opened the door for their own destruction and are actively aiding in the campaign against the “Faith of our Fathers”… the Christian faith.

Here in North Carolina they have struck another blow against the Christian. The war to eradicate Christianity, in the US, is as real today as it was during the day of Nero in ancient Rome. Only, the ACLU has replaced the lions in today’s coliseum.

The war rages, between good and evil, as it has since Eden. However, I have read The Book, and, Dear Reader, the Christians win!

“Longstreet”

Roberts May Harm the Conservative Cause

Judge Roberts Could Hurt the Conservative Cause.

I cannot shake the feeling that Judge John Roberts is not going to be good for Conservatives if confirmed by the US Senate to the US Supreme Court.

The more I learn, the more I listen, and consider, the more I am becoming convinced that Roberts is far too moderate to be of any use, as a conservative, to help swing the Court toward a more conservative center. That can only spell trouble for our conservative agenda.

There is a line of thought, in the blogoshere, that if confirmed, Roberts will align with Breyer and Kennedy.

There is an extremely good chance that Roberts, if confirmed, will not, I repeat, will not, become the so-called “Swing Vote” on the court. On the other hand, there is a very good chance that Justice Kennedy will become that “Swing Vote”. That is a scary thought.

Knowing what little we know, at this moment, of Roberts, it would seem he would feel more comfortable aligned with Kennedy and Breyer than with Scalia, Thomas, and Rehnquist. If this becomes the case, the conservative cause will have gained nothing and, indeed, will have lost ground on the Court.

Even with the retirement of Rehnquist, the appointment of another solid conservative, in the mold of Scalia, or Thomas, will only serve to take us back to an O’Connor Court. Conservatives will have made no gains on the Supreme Court.

Unless something happens to change my mind on this, some tidbit of information which might escape from the Judiciary hearings, some solid reporting by an impartial press (where in the US will we find that?) something, anything… my original position… to withhold support for Judge Roberts still stands.

I cannot get past the feeling that this is a bad appointment for the Conservatives in the US.

As we all now know, the Supreme Court has become the Chief Legislative Body in the United States. The Senate and the US House have abrogated their legislative power and willingly handed it over to the Court… mostly as a result of fear of creating an unpopular law, which just might result in their not being re-elected.

I know, as well, as the next American, that that is unconstitutional. However, the Constitution has been trashed so badly, in recent, years as to be nearly unrecognizable. The same court to which Roberts has been nominated did the trashing. Do you detect the vicious downward spiral of the government of the United States?

The Supreme Court has become an oligarchy. A bad oligarchy. (The few ruling the many) Now that the oligarchy has become a “given” we conservatives would be foolish not to try to take control of it.

It is my conclusion that Judge Roberts, a very fine man, indeed, will be of no help to the Conservative Cause on the Court, and may, indeed, harm it.

I would urge Conservatives to think seriously about the Roberts nomination… and the consequences if I am correct.

Contact your US Senators and make known your reservations about the Roberts nomination.

This is very serious business, indeed.

“Longstreet”

The GOP Right Wing and the Supreme Court.

President George W. Bush, and his administration, are, in some cases, painfully aware that it was the right-wing of the Republican party responsible for his election. Some say the Evangelicals.

You may believe that if you choose… and I would not argue with the premise, but… it was not totally the Evangelicals. The right wing, yes. But Evangelicals are only a part of the right wing of the Republican Party. I’m in the other, non-Evangelical sector of the Right Wing. I am a “non-practicing Lutheran” of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I no longer attend church as I feel, in my opinion, the ELCA has been hi-jacked by Liberals and it is no longer a church of the scriptures. I want no part of that.

So, that’s where I’m coming from. I’m a conservative Christian. Not an Evangelical. Now that this is out of the way, I write this piece to state our intentions openly and honestly. We DO want something in return for our loyality to the Candidate George W. Bush. We want the Supreme Court!

It’s as simple as that.

You see, we went to the polls with the Supreme Court in mind. So far as we were concerned the 2004 presidential election was altogether about the Supreme Court. That is what we voted for. Bush promised us he would offer up conservative nominees for the court. We intend to hold him to that promise. No, we intend to hold the entire GOP to that promise. There are two critical elections on the political horizon, 2006 and 2008. We can be there in force, or we can stay home. That is up to President Bush to decide.

To be as clear as I know how, let me state empathically, that Alberto Gonzales is not acceptable to us as a Supreme Court nominee. We will do all in our power to see that he is never considered for that position, and if he is considered, we will work for his defeat. Is that clear enough?

Conservatives see an opportunity here to turn this country around. We are bound by our patriotic duty, and our religious duty, to do everything in our power to make that opportunity available to the citizens of the country.

We have no problem with staying away from the polls. Some have asked how that can be. It’s simple, really. We know we will answer to a much higher power for our shortcomings here on this earth. Voting for a "Godly candidate", or not voting for an "ungodly candidate" is a “no brainer” as far as we are concerned.

We love our country and this is serious business to us. Very serious, indeed.

“Longstreet”

Democrats Help Judge Roberts Confirmation

The more the Democrats rage against, and about, Judge John Roberts the more I am drawn to him.

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, then you know I have had reservations about Judge Roberts from the “git-go” for two reasons. I absolutely do not want another David Souter on the Court, and I want a nominee the Democrats hate!

My reasoning is, if the Democrats hate him, then he must be doing the right things, therefore he is acceptable to me. More and more the Democrats are stoking my interest in him.

There are rumors, floating about the ‘Net, that Roberts was to have been the Administration’s choice to replace Chief Justice Rehnquist upon his retirement. However, as the good Chief Justice refuses to leave the bench in any other fashion than “toes-up”, that plan could no longer get airborne. So, on to plan “B”.

We tend to forget in all the “Sound and Fury”, over Roberts, that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is STILL waiting in the wings. I say STILL WAITING, because it is evident that he would have been the choice to fill Justice O’Connor’s spot had Rehnquist retired and Roberts slid into that slot. So, Gonzalez will have to wait another few months.

The grapevine has it that Republicans have burned the President’s ear with protestations over the acceptability of Gonzalez on the court … at all! Frankly, as one lonely voice carrying in the wilderness, neither do I. Gonzalez simply is not conservative enough. The White House was told conservatives would make the GOP pay, in the 2006 elections, if Gonzalez was appointed. I might add, as a conservative, that promise holds true for the 2008 elections, as well. RNC…take notice!

So where are we? Who knows? The Democrats are furiously digging for something, anything, to smear Roberts name in the upcoming hearings, probably in September. Over the past few days they have been going after his wife. The problem is, those of us on the right, found ourselves more drawn to Robert’s wife, as the nominee, than to Roberts himself! She’s a gutsy, activist for conservative causes. More power to her!

In the meantime, I will continue to watch, and listen, as the Democrats continue to make fools of themselves before America. And we will take great care not to get between Senator Chuck Shumer, of New York, and a TV camera!

As a right-wing Conservative, I am not nearly as happy with Judge Roberts as I would have been with Judge Edith Jones. But, we will continue our campaign to get her appointed to the Court to fill the next vacancy.

It’s a start, that’s all.

“Longstreet”

UN Tax on Individual Americans!

Now the UN wants to Tax You!

No, I didn’t just make this up. This is an idea, which has been around for sometime. The Un, literally, wants to tax the individuals of member nations to finance their…whatever they do… stuff!

Do you begin to see why I was pushing the confirmation of John Bolton as the Ambassador to the UN? We desperately need somebody with the cajones of a Mr. Bolton to stand in the way of those jerks, at the UN, and read them the riot act. Bolton will do that.

Oh, it gets even worse:

You see, it is unfair for the US to have lower taxes than places like Germany and France, and Belgium, etc. The UN would create an ITO That’s the “International Tax Organization”.

Next the UN is considering the power to levy it’s own taxes. They are looking at taxing currency exchanges, energy consumption, and… oh yes, the Internet, including even each, and every, e-mail you send! (Just this past week they announced their interest in going after control of the Internet. They do not like the fact that the real backbone of the Internet is in America’s hands.)

Now here is the kicker: The UN is proposing to tax the income of immigrants.

Let me see if I can clarify that: Say an immigrant is here from, oh, say… India. Every dollar that immigrant makes, would be taxed by the UN and the taxes collected from the immigrant sent back to his, or her, country of origin. Just in America alone, that would mean the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars from the cash flow of the US every year

Do not fool yourself into believing that this can never happen. Maybe not right now…while we have a Republican conservative President in office. But, suppose we had a Democrat “globalist” as President (like Howard Dean, or Hillary Clinton, or even John Kerry). The Dems support the idea of “One World Government”. They support the idea that America should give up her sovereignty to the United Nations and allow itself to be governed by that corrupt bunch of thieves and brigands.

This is a very serious situation brewing in the UN. And we don’t even have an Ambassador there.

Why? Simply because the Democrats, in the Senate, are dragging their feet on the confirmation of Bolton. They do not want to confirm John Bolton… exactly because he would stand against these crazy schemes of the UN.

We urge President Bush to appoint Mr. Bolton, to the UN, as a Recess Appointment, and get him in place, as soon as possible, to begin the fight for America’s continued sovereignty.

The UN is a worldwide loose cannon and should be shut down, and disbanded, completely. It is at the core of the cancer eating away at the foundation of democracy the world over.

The US pays for 25% of the operating costs of the UN. That means… we are helping support their misdeeds.

I urge the US Congress to shut off the flow of American dollars to the UN and get this country out of that pit of chaos. The sooner, the better!

“Longstreet”

The Brits and Aussies Are Better!

If we aren’t very careful, here in America, the Brits, and the Aussies, are going to “eat our lunch” in going after the terrorists!

The Brits, and the Aussies, are “aggressively” going after the terrorist, in Their Homelands, with whatever it takes, including shooting them down in the streets. (Colateral Damage, as it turns out.)

We have a major problem with the government of this great land. That problem is called Liberals. (They don’t like it when you call them that. They prefer “Progressives”. Yeah, right! )

I have come to believe the reason we haven’t had bombings in the US, similar to those in London, is simply because the American Left is doing more for the cause of the terrorists than the terrorist could possibly do with their bombs!

However, it’s coming. The bombings, I mean. It is a matter of time, only.

Now, I know it is politically incorrect to agree with the US government’s interning all those Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. I DO agree with it. It was necessary. Disagreeable, yes, but necessary. The West Coast of America was attacked at least three times by the Japanese and that doesn’t include the battles in the Aleutians. Maybe it is time to begin considering the same thing for the Moslem-Americans among us now. Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? It is horrible. But, again, WE ARE AT WAR!

Our government has refused to secure the borders of the country and, as a result, we have no idea who is walking among us.

Our borders are wide-open… north and south. The terrorists are taking advantage of these open doors and infiltrating into the States. We don’t know what they are bringing with them. Some believe small nukes are already situated within the US only awaiting the order to bring devastation on our cities. Our Intelligence Community knows the terrorists have been attempting to purchase those small nukes, some called “suitcase nukes”, from black marketeers for some time. How do we know they have not been successful? We don’t. The smart thing, it seems to me, is to set up our defenses as though we believe they have those nukes in their possession and have successfully penetrated the borders and placed them in strategic locations within the US. (Some, from the conservative wing of American politics, are suggesting we make it known that OUR nuclear sights are set on the great cities of Mecca and Medina. If the terrorists set off nukes in our cities, we will flatten their “holy cities”. Tit for tat. “Lex Talionis”!)

Paranoid? I don’t think so. From the bellowing of the Liberals in Congress it will probably take the explosion of a couple of those weapons (One won’t do it!) of Mass Destruction before the lame brained idiots come to understand that those of us, out here in the hinterlands, screaming at the top of our voices that we are AT WAR, are not the raving lunatics they think, but a bunch of realists.

We ARE AT WAR! The military knows this better than anyone. The Pentagon is asking for the draft age to be upped to 42 years of age. We’re going to need men. Fighting men. Right now some 59% of the combat troops in Iraq are Reservists! Does this tell you anything? Our Regular Army is roughly one-third the size we need right now! The draft is coming. Soon.

The US Government’s first priority is the security of its citizens. They are not taking that priority seriously enough. Nether is the average citizens. If 9/11 proved nothing else, it proved we are not invulnerable. We can be hit and hit big!

The next attack on the soil of the US will make 9/11 look like a Sunday School picnic.

And we are going to wait. We are “turning the other cheek”, again. How many cheeks do we have to turn? Enough is enough!

Look, the United States cannot lose this war and survive. No matter what the Liberals say, this is not the Viet Nam War. We cannot pack up and go home when the politicians lose their nerve, this time. We need to take the leash off our troops and let the killing begin… in earnest. Currently, we are not killing the enemy at a sufficient rate. I doubt that we ever can. But we can decimate them. And we are not doing that now.

Just as the politicians in Washington brought shame on out Viet Nam Vets, they are bent on the same conclusion of the current conflict in the Middle East.

Get the lawyers off the battlefields and let the troops do their jobs of breaking things and killing people. Only then will the opposition begin to believe we are serious.

After Mogadishu, The terrorists believe if they make us bleed we will quit and go home. Sad to say, if the Congress wasn’t getting so much heat from back home, that would already have happened. Right now, it is the average American citizen keeping the fires stoked under our Senators, and Congressman, in Washington, DC, to maintain our commitment to this war. If not for that, our troops would have been pulled out, long ago, and brought home... in shame… again!

It is becoming clearer, as the days go by, that we have nearly as much to fear from the spineless bungling in our nation’s capitol as we do from the terrorists!

The old expression that “God looks after, drunks and little children” must have been expanded to include… America, because our leaders, sure as hell, are not doing it!

“Longstreet”

Conservatives Should Not Support Roberts!

I’m having a problem with the John Roberts nomination to the US Supreme Court. It nagged at me for the past 24 hours and today it surfaced.

Why did the President present us with a “stealth” candidate”. Why?

Look, ever since Suitor, I have been shy of stealth candidates… to anything. If you remember, the Bush One administration assured us that Suitor was a conservative. As it turned out he’s about as conservative as Ted Kennedy!

Besides, we don’t need a stealth candidate. We need an “above board”, “in your face” conservative Justice on that Supreme Court. We don’t have to be shy about sending such a candidate to the Senate Judicial Committee or to the full Senate for conformation.

It looks to me as if the as if there was a staring contest between the Democrats and the President… and the President blinked! I don’t like it… at all.

We Republicans own the Senate. We don’t have to send a milch toast nominee up there. Heck, we can send a hard-nosed conservative to the Senate and get him, or her, confirmed. We might be forced to use the “Constitutional Option”… but, so what? Do it! Bring the hammer down!

I have had my fill of the kid glove treatment the Republicans are giving the Democrats, in the Senate, and the MSM. I am embarrassed to associate myself with this bunch of testosterone challenged, weak-kneed substitutes for real men and real women.

The President had two staunchly conservative women candidates from the 5th circuit court in Louisiana, either of whom would have replaced a woman, with a woman, and been a known quantity…a hard-nosed conservative. But he didn’t do that. He chose a blank slate. The problem with a blank slate is that ANYBODY can write upon it!

I think we conservatives have been short-sheeted with the President’s selection of Roberts. It has all the ear marks of a “Cave’ to the opposition. For that reason alone I cannot support Bush’s choice.

I will be contacting my Senators and asking that they vote against the confirmation of Judge Roberts and insist that the President send a solid conservative nominee up to the Senate for confirmation!

I’m tired of Republicans in the Senate allowing themselves to be man-handled by, and run over by, that bunch of loose cannons from the Democratic side of the aisle.

No… this won’t do! Not at all! I wonder if the Libertarian Party has any openings, huh?

“Longstreet”

Bush Makes His Choice!

Well, President Bush has made his choice for the Supreme Court known. The world did not come to an end, either. That was something of a relief.

After viewing the nominee’s qualifications, I believe it is safe to say this is the “lull before the storm”.

Judge John G. Roberts, Jr., from all accounts is a brilliant man. When you look at his accomplishments in only 48 years you have to arrive at that conclusion. Yes, he is only 48 years of age. If confirmed he will be able to serve a very long time on the court.

He is conservative. That will give conservatives a “plus” on the court. Now there will be four Conservatives…Scalia, Thomas, Rehnquist, and if approved, Roberts. That will give us a dead tie, 4 to 4 in rulings made by the court. A tie might be good. That remains to be seen.

We are now left with Ginsburg, Kennedy, Stevens, and Suitor, the four liberals. If we are able to replace one of them, we will have the court in Conservative hands. One is in bad health, another is 85 years of age, so a retirement is certainly within the realm of possibility.

The next few hours and days will tell the tale of how the democrats will react. I am not hopeful. By the same token, many republicans, on the right side of the conservative spectrum are spoiling for a fight… just as an excuse to use the Constitutional Option. I fall within that category.

My side of the Republican Party understood, from the beginning that this was what the election of George W. Bush was about. The Supreme Court. We know the Political Party, with control of the court, actually controls the country. As a Right Wing Conservative I happily admit that. Control of the Supreme Court has been, and remains, item number one on our agenda. With the Confirmation of Judge Roberts we will be one step closer.

Our primary goal is very clear. Taking the country back to the original Constitution as the founders wrote it. We firmly believe they wrote what they meant and meant what they wrote.

The confirmation of Judge Roberts will go along way towards accomplishing our goals.

“Longstreet”

The “Silly Season started a bit early this year in Washington, DC. Usually the advent of the annual Silly Season begins at the start of the August recess. But, not this year.

The MSM’s insistence on making fools of themselves early, and often, has powered this early launch. Their continual exhibition of “Foot-in-Mouth” disease had kept the Conservatives in the US in stitches for months now.

Conservative have been more amused, than intimidated, by their non-stop campaign to “Get Bush”. Their behavior has been ludicrous up to now and we see no indication it will change before Bush leaves office. So, we will try to ignore them. That always hurts them more than anything else. Like children, they must be the center of attention.

And then there are the Dmocrats! A political party in chaos, and bent on suicide. A political party with no ideas of their own, and embarrassed by that fact, apparently must constantly attack the other party to deflect attention away from their own lack of ideas and inspiration. Their leadership, in the House and Senate, are less than inspiring. Their spokesmen come across as “empty suits”. Their National Organization comes across as an asylum being run by the inmates. Is this a party on the way to the dustbin of history?

And we cannot forget the Republicans. They have been monumentally disappointing. They have not missed a chance to “Miss a Chance”. So far, they have become expert at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Republican leadership is weak and wishy-washy, especially in the Senate. Senate Republicans are devoid of the “fire in the belly” necessary to take the fight to their political enemies and ram the conservative agenda thru the Senate. The House has actually done better than the Senate, so far, this term. They have managed to move bills, and proposed legislation, through with a minimal of Democrat interference… much to the chagrin of the Democrats who held a sham impeachment hearing of President Bush, just to try to build morale among their troops. Pathetic.

And finally, the Judicial Branch. The worst bunch of Legislators in the nation! The have managed to amend the US Constitution a number of times, since last October, and they removed private property rights from the citizens of the US along the way. There is now, no such thing as privately owned property in the United States. Two are ill, one has resigned, more are expected to resign as age takes it’s toll. Of the entire nine members of the court, only two can be relied upon to do their jobs as the constitution spells it out.

And finally, the United States is no longer United. We’re split into Red and Blue states. Some of the Blues have actually threatened secession! Those of us in the Red states look upon that threat as a hopeful promise and not just a threat! If you are laboring under the misconception that the United States would go to war to keep states from seceding… again, you are sadly mistaken. So, the door is wide open. Eventually the States will break up and go their separate ways.

So, as the annual “Silly Season” begins in earnest, this is where we stand. In a mess! But, then again, that’s democracy!

“Longstreet”

Is Soccer Truly the Un-American Sport?

Is Soccer Un-American?

Yep. I think it is.

I mean trying just to sit thru a soccer match (game?) is tedious. They can play for what seems like hours (it usually is.) and still have a score of 0 to 0. How boring is that? Americans want to win! We can’t abide a tie! Not to mention a loss! Soccer is the sport where the losing team is told: “Well, at least you tried”. That is not good enough for Americans. Losing is NEVER acceptable to Americans. On the playing field, the battlefield, or anywhere else. Frankly, we can’t stand a loser!

Soccer is a “feel good” sport. American sports are about winning and losing. They are a form of combat. Tactics used on the battle filed are used on the sports fields of American sports. Our athletes are taught there is no substitute for winning. They are further taught that losing is unacceptable… and in the event they should lose… they are taught to never give up, nor in, until their goal of victory is reached. We don’t have “ties” in American sports.

No, I can’t accept soccer as an American sport. Now, Baseball, Football, Basketball, Nascar racing, etc, THESE are American sports. Invented right here in the good ole USA! (I don’t want to hear about cricket, and rugby! It just confuses the issue, here! I don’t want to hear about Grand Prix racing in Europe. Try explaining Grand Prix racing to a bootleg whiskey runner in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina, and you’ll quickly learn… there is NO comparison!)

No, I have come to believe that Soccer was another one of those imports by the American Left to try to make Americans fit into the Global Community. I resent the heck out of it! Our Left Wing nuts, in the government school system, (read “Public Schools”) glombed onto Soccer, instantly, as another way to “socialize” the American youth into the “global village”. As one who thinks the “Global Village” is a crock, I instantly became suspicious when soccer first made an appearance on the playgrounds of our public schools.

The other thing… soccer is cheap. It costs the schools next to nothing, compared to REAL sports, to set up a soccer team, and a soccer facility, at the school.

Soccer is a “pip squeak” sport. It is meant for those who can’t play anything else, like the Real American sports mentioned above. It is a pathetic looking thing to watch. Simply pathetic!

If soccer had a gender, it would be female. Soccer is feminine. You know, "Scoccer Moms". Ever hear of "Scoccer Dads"? Some things are just simply feminine and some are masculine. For instance: All cats are female! All dogs are male!

I’d like to see soccer banned in the USA. Just get our kids out of it, and away from it.

There, I’ve said it! I know I’m not alone as a rabid “anti-soccer extremist”. Not many will speak out against the damage soccer does to our American kids.

I just did.

“Longstreet”

A Recess Appointment?

The next "Congressional Recess" begins at the end of this month, on July 30th. Look for a “Recess Appointment” of John Bolton to the job of US Ambassador to the United Nations during that recess.

Neither side has given in, or up. The President certainly has not, and Bolton is attempting to enlarge his office space, or the office space set-aside for the UN ambassador, in DC.

It would seem President Bush made his decision on who should fill that post and he intends to stick by it and see that, one way or another, Mr. Bolton gets to the UN.

We applaud the President for sticking with his choice and for sticking his finger in the Senate’s eye!

Way to go, Mr. President!

If the President does make a Recess Appointment of Bolton, it will be extremely difficult for the Senate NOT to confirm him next time his name is submitted as a permanent ambassador to the UN.

The thing I can’t understand, for the life of me, is why the Democrats continue to do this to themselves and to their party. They come across, to the American people as the party of “kooks”, “has-beens” and “never-will-bes”. Not too long ago, the Democrat party was a force to be dealt with. No longer. Now they are a nagging “pain in rear-end” of the country. They have allowed hatred, bigotry, and their party-wide inferiority complex to dictate the goals of their once powerful party. Now the bill has come due.

I have said it before but it bears saying again… I can only pity what was once a proud political party with the welfare of the country as their primary concern. The Democrat Party have fallen so far as to be a laughing stock of the masses of Americans who still revere their God, their families, and their country.

Stalling the inevitable confirmation of Mr. Bolton to the UN and mudding up the waters in advance of the Supreme Court nominee(s) is evidence of their impotency. It is a sad thing to behold.

But, they got themselves into the mess they’re embroiled in, with no help from us conservatives, and only they can get themselves out of it.

The Dems may find, in another decade, or so, they have to go out of business as the Democrat Party and create another (new) political party from the ground up. They may find, as many of us now feel, the current Democrat Party is entirely too sick to survive.

In the meantime, conservatives are looking with anticipation at the confirmation of Mr. Bolton, to the UN, and confirmation of possibly 4 conservative nominees to the Supreme Court.

“Longstreet”

Rove and the Sharks in the Water!

The MSM is in a feeding frenzy again. This time they’re after the scalp of Karl Rove.

The Mainstream Media, doing the bidding of the Democrat Party, is about to make fools of themselves… again!

Rove doesn’t need me to defend him so. I won’t. As a matter of fact… no pun intended… the facts are… that no law was broken. The MSM knows it, but they continue this witch-hunt in hopes of causing damage to President Bush.

Until such time as someone can prove Rove broke the law, his job at the White House is secure.The continuous bellowing, and caterwauling, by the White House Press Corp only serves to solidify the public’s opinion of them… that they are a boorish, rude mob, out of touch with reality. Their self-delusional belief that the public cannot see their liberal bias is now pathological. And like an illness it has eaten away their public support. The days of the MSM being the only source of news are long gone. Everyone seems to know this, except… the MSM. The public no longer trusts the MSM. In recent years there have been entirely too many instances of “news creation”, and other, shall we say, … “problems”.

The MSM’s utter underestimation of the intellect of their consumers is monumental. Now, with the Internet available to 90% of Americans, questions concerning news reports can be answered in minutes, sometimes seconds. And that is what readers, listeners, and viewers are doing. I have a dozen, or more, news sources set up on my PC’s desktop, and RSS readers, to keep me in touch with the news of the day. The world’s library is at my fingertips, literally. Often I find that I have to go “offshore” to get an unbiased report of a political event occurring in this country. Many of the news stories I read in my local/regional, newspaper, I have already read hours, and even days, before they show up in my paper. When the news consumer adds all this up, they /we conclude that the MSM, especially in the US, has dropped their façade of non-biased reporting and come out, openly, for the Liberal/Democrat cause.

The Karl Rove incident is only the latest “trash the conservatives” campaign. It, too, is about to blow-up in their faces.

A few minutes of research, on the Internet, and one learns that Mr. Rove is not guilty of the charges leveled at him by the MSM. And, this has become a regular “fact checking” routine by those who are serious about their news.

How does an organization continue to exist in such an atmosphere of distrust? They don’t. Not for long, anyway.

Readership is down. Listenership is down, and viewers are tuning away. Many are turning to alternate sources of news… the vast majority turn to the Internet.

The MSM has so abused the first amendment that we have been predicting, for some time now, there will be curtailments of that “freedom of the press”. Already reporters are being sentenced to jail.Where is the public outcry when a reporter is jailed? There isn’t any. Why? Because the MSM has convinced its consumers that it deserves this “ill treatment” BECAUSE of its abuse of the trust placed in them. News consumers have come to resent the lack of esteem the press has for them/us and the arrogant contempt they demonstrate for the intelligence of their readers, listeners and viewers.

So now we watch as the MSM self-destructs right before our eyes.

“Longstreet”

Is it possible to give someone freedom?

Think about it. This is profound.

Is freedom something you can bestow upon another human being? Or, must freedom be taken, and secured, by those who would be free?

There is hardly a race of people on the planet who have not, at one time or another, been slaves. Most have seized any opportunity to end their enslavement by taking their freedom, often through revolt and the shedding of blood. Their freedom was bought, and paid for, in the currency most often bartered for liberty… blood.

The shedding of blood gave them an investment in their freedom and a reason to cherish it precisely because of it’s cost. These people understand freedom... and the cost. They know, all too well, that freedom is not free. If one desires freedom, one must pay for it.

It seems, to me, that when you bestow freedom upon a people, you simply substitute one slave master for another. That is, the person upon whom, you bestow that freedom, is forever tied to you. That is enslavement. Voluntary servitude, maybe, but there is most certainly a tie that binds between the “bestowed” and the “bestower”. And sooner or later the “bestowed” begins to resent the “eternal hold” his emancipator has over him. And a slow burning rage begins deep inside his inner most being. That rage is handed down from generation to generation. We see evidence of that rage here, in America, everyday.

Much is being said today about the Continent of Africa. A hopeless morass of enslavement, if ever there has been one, stares the entire world in the face. There is little we can do for Africa. I have said it before and I will say it again… Africa must heal itself.

The question arises… if the western world steps in and cleans the mess up and “bestows” the Africans with their freedom, will they be able to maintain it. Will they value it enough to strive to protect and defend that freedom, or will that place less value in the “gift” of freedom than they would it that freedom was “earned”. I tend to think they will value it less as a “gift”.

There are all sorts of enslavement, but the simple truth is… the resentment of the emancipated for the emancipator is ever present. I have come to believe we do enslaved peoples no favor when we free them. For proof of this we have only to look at France, or even here, within America, and I fear, we will have the same resentment in Iraq, and the other middle eastern countries, when our military is finished setting them, free.

This is a hard truth to digest. But, I believe that when we get past all the politically correct facades, we have constructed to shield ourselves from this truth, we will come face to face with the hard cold fact: the bestowal of Freedom can’t be done. It is impossible to accomplish. Freedom must be taken, seized at whatever cost, to have any value. A human being cannot accept freedom, as a gift, without accepting the inevitable bonds that will always, and forever, tie the emancipated to the emancipator.

Eventually we will have to accept this truth and deal with it.

“Longstreet”

The US is Being Overrun with Immigrants!

Is it time to close the Golden Door and out Lady Liberty’s Torch? I think it is… at least for a time.

The US is being overrun with immigrants, legal and illegal. So many are coming in that we can no longer keep up with them… and as a result, we haven’t a clue who is here… and what their intentions are.

We are losing our country. Three immigrants babies are born for every baby born to a US Citizen. See what I mean? See how the numbers are against us? Those babies, born of immigrant parents, become an American citizen at the moment of birth. In a few years, that same young American citizen can sponsor other members of his, or her, family and bring them to live in the US as well.

Something has to be done… and quickly.

We need to shut done legal immigration for a few years… a moratorium on immigration, if you will. That will allow us to catch our national breath. And then we need to close, and seal, the southern, and northern, borders of the US.

Just recently two more Iraqis were captured attempting to cross illegally from Mexico into the United States. For the two caught… how many got through?

A country must be able to control it’s borders, or it is doomed. Sorry to say, I do not see the will in our elected officials, including the President, to take the nation's security seriously and close, and seal, those borders.

Please don’t tell me it can’t be done. It can be done. But, one thing is missing. The political will to do it. This is another point at which the "governed" and the "governors" differ in the US.

The American people would like to preserve their identity and their national security. Unfortunately, our legislators seem interested only in securing more and more power for themselves… and if that means allowing illegal, and legal, immigrants to pour into this country in hopes of persuading them to align themselves with their political party, then so be it. (And there, in a nutshell, is the problem.)

When the 2008 Presidential campaigns swing into high gear next year, I’d like to see this problem front and center on the list of things the candidates need to address and actually do something about! I doubt it will be on that list, but if we push long enough, and loud enough, we will, at some point, get their attention.

Until we are ready to colonize the stars we are going to have to make a home for ourselves here… on this planet. As in 15th, and 16th, century Europe, many of us are ready to pull out and go establish, for ourselves, another society. We haven’t the means, yet. But in the future we will, and the stars will really be our homes.

“Longstreet”

Leaders of the Free World...Fight for Your People!!!

Still think we can negotiate with the terrorists. Still think we need to try to understand them, huh?

Great Britain just got their answer. Looks very much like the one we got back on 9/11.

What’s to understand? They are murderers, cowards, and they’re lower than pond scum. They’re a cancer on the earth.

Now, we can all sit around in a circle, join hands, and sing “cum baya”, ‘til the cows come home, and those crazy lunatics will continue blowing us up and killing us.

While the “limp wristed liberals” in the US Congress, and the Parliament of Great Britain, in the UN, in NATO, and in the European Union, wring their hands in dismay, moan, and groan: “woe is me”… somebody needs to be killing those bastards as fast as they can!

How much more killing of the world’s innocent will it take? Good Lord, people, if we’re to die, let us die like men, on our feet, facing our enemy, and struggling with them… with bare fists if necessary! Men die fighting, face-to-face, with their enemy. Men do not die with their heads bowed, and their necks bared, awaiting the sword!

This is a life and death struggle. It will not end in our lifetimes. So we have a choice. We can refuse to see it for what it is (which is what the Left… all over the world… is doing!) or we can face up to it and give all-out battle in an attempt to destroy it. We cannot do as we are doing now. These puny, half-hearted attempts at cleaning out pockets of enemy combatants, here and there, around the globe, are only delaying the inevitable… our own defeat… our own enslavement!

To our President, to our Congressman, to our ministers of Parliament, I say, get off your behinds and engage the enemy. Fight for the lives of your people! If the free world is to go down, then for God’s sake, let us go down swinging!

We’re acting like a bunch of sissy schoolgirls. We have durned near as many lawyers in the combat zone as we do combat soldiers! Fighting a "politically correct war" will get us only defeat, while the body count of innocent people, all over the world, continues to pile up. This is simply unforgivable!

I am tired of the whining, and the moaning, and groaning, coming from the Congress... in my own country. Almost 50% of the Congressmen, and Senators, want nothing more than failure for the US in its war against terrorism. I am embarrassed to say that it certainly seems they want only power for themselves, and their party, (the party out of power). They don’t give a “rats rear end” what happens to the country, just as long as they can re-gain power. My God, talk about weapons of mass destruction, THEY are the weapons of mass destruction! While they scheme, and plan, to retake the US government, people are getting blown to bits by the dozens, the hundreds and yes, even the thousands!

This pathetic attempt at placating an enemy, sworn to wipe us off the face of the earth, has got to stop. We need a concentrated, all out, effort to rid the earth of “those people”! Total war! Take down country after country ‘til there is no place left for them to hide. Then eradicate them.

We need to see the photos of the Twin Towers, in New York, collapsing, and the London Subways smoking, and the crumpled up metal that used to be a Double Decker Bus, and the Spanish train… blown to bits, every time we turn on a TV. Every US Newspaper should have a permanent photo of the Twin Towers burning, on the front page, as constant reminders of what this fight is about!

Dear Reader, I will either live, or I will die, but, I refuse to live as a slave to some religious fundamentalist stuck in the 13th century! No way!

If we have to land troops on the Mediterranean beaches of Syria and march eastward to the borders of China, then so be it. You cut a cancer out! “Those People” are a cancer on the earth. Let’s cut them out! Now!

"Longstreet"

The “Airheads” of Hollywood are beginning to feel the wrath of the “silent majority” out here in the hinterlands.

We are fed-up with their self appointed expertise in diplomacy, and in politics in general. Their slobbering after the Clinton Administration was the beginning of their fall. Their rabid attacks of the current administration has underscored their vacuous, brainless, emotion based hate of anything even approaching Conservative. Their hedonism is held up to the light, for all to see, and they attack the light because the truth of who, and what they are, nearly destroys them.

It is fear that motivates them. Fear that their Godless existence will tarnish their carefully molded personas and mark them with the “Mark of the Beast”.

No single community in America has done more to destroy this nation than Hollywood. None. Their efforts have lowered the morals of America’s youth to the lowest common denominator… and then lowered it some more.

No longer does the public believe they create movies for the sake of the art of entertainment. Now we know they create movies as propaganda, as “How To” instruction for all sorts of crime and debauchery.

Their utter disregard for morality is disgusting. When we think they have sunk as low as it is possible for one to sink, they sink even lower.

And now… they want to dictate, to average Americans, how their government should conduct the people’s business. They call into question the veracity of a President, and a government, duly elected by the people of the US, and undermine the war efforts of this country by propping up dictators and publicly slandering the US while visiting other countries abroad. They have thrown themselves into the "vast left-wing conspiracy" with a vengence!

While many of the top tier actors, and actresses, haven’t even a high school diploma, they know they are smarter than you and I because they can ACT AS IF THEY ARE. They have come to believe their own press releases!

Their disgusting, degrading, products have polluted the minds of our youth long enough. It is time they got their comeuppance.

Hollywood has been asking for this for a long time.

“Longstreet”

Let Europe Save Africa, If They Can!

Why, suddenly, is the world so interested in Africa?

Well, let’s face it, Africa is loaded with natural resources... from diamonds, and gold, to that black gold, oil.

Until recently, Africa has been written off as a “lost cause” with no hope of salvation, at least by the Western World. Now there is renewed interest in the welfare of Africa. This is suspiciously sudden!

Africa has been feeding on itself since the last days of "Colonialism". They have shown a marked inability to govern themselves... or even to shed the “tribal” state of mind for the common good. As a result they have remained in a perpetual state of unrest and turmoil. Black dictators and demigods rule some of the worse off African nations. There is no end in sight. Maybe the West was correct to pull out and leave them to their own devices.

Look, if we get sucked into that "morass of chaos", we may never be able to free ourselves. Pouring money into Africa is like pouring water into a bottomless pit. There will never be enough to fill it up. If Europe wants to take on this burden, then by all means the US should let them. But, the US should keep a "hands-off” policy towards Africa.

The “Dark Continent” remains "dark" primarily because the "knowledgeable" Africans have gotten out. Many have come to Europe, and the States, for an education… and stayed. As a result, the best, and the brightest Africans are here, in the States, and in Europe. Some have called it a massive “Brain Drain”. That might be an apt description.

I have thought, many times, we should re-institute Colonialism in Africa. The problem is, as it was then, the cost. No single nation can afford the drain on its treasury that the rescue of Africa will cost. Belgium, France, Great Britain, the Dutch, none of these can afford it. The combined wealth of the West can not save Africa.

Only Africa can save Africa. Only when Africans come to realize their only hope is to pull themselves together, shape-up, and join the modern world, will they even have a chance of succeeding.

Until then, Africa is lost.

“Longstreet”

Gonzales for the COURT? NO WAY!

Alberto Gonzales is completely unacceptable for the Supreme Court of the United States. Gonzales has voiced his support for Affirmative Action and Abortion Rights, which are both anathema to the Right. If President Bush wishes to alienate his right wing base then, that is certainly the way to do it!

Attorney General Gonzales is entirely too moderate to sit on a court already far too liberal as it is. The Conservatives have a chance to own the court with a Conservative justice. And that is what we want. We will accept nothing else. If a liberal, or a moderate, nominee is thrust upon us, we will retaliate first in the Senate, and if necessary, at the polls. Not to mention we will tie up the Senate, by voting against Gonzales, as a way to bring this nomination to a screeching halt.

There is entirely too much riding on the President’s nomination of a Conservative to allow anything to get in the way. The so-called consultations, by Senators, with the President, are total nonsense. Not to mention the fact that they are extra-constitutional. There has been too much meddling, as it is, in the nomination process and it is time for the Democrats to butt out!
The choosing of a nominee to the Supreme Court is left entirely up to the President. Fact is, the nominee does not even have to be a lawyer!

The Right is itching for a battle so we will have an excuse to exercise the “Constitutional Option” known by the Liberals as the “Nuclear Option”. The Right would like to return the Senate to the constitutional requirements of a majority vote on the nomination(s). It would appear that the Democrats are about to give us the opportunity to do just that.

Frankly, I’d like to see the President re-nominate Judge Bork and really blow the minds of the Democrats! That’s not about to happen, of course, but it is an intriguing thought, never the less.

The Supreme Court convenes, as always, on the first Monday in October. It is, indeed, doubtful that a nomination can be made, and make it’s way through the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate, by that date.

It looks as though it’s going to be a long, hot, summer!

“Longstreet”

The South MUST Fight Back!

I just read of the proposed lawsuit against the SCV, in Alabama, for placing a huge Confederate Battle Flag on a flagpole which elevates the flag above the tops of the surrounding trees so it can be clearly seen by northbound or southbound traffic on the nearby interstate highway.

That flagpole is on private property. Property owned by the SCV. The display of the flag itself is speech, protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

I have about had my fill of those who cannot get “their fill” of trashing the South and those who continue to give life to the lies and distortions they spew about the South.

Rest assured, there at thousands more, just like me, quite possibly MILLIIONS more, who are just as perturbed by the actions of the so-called activists who are, by and large, ignorant of the history of the US and, in particular, the South. They have bought into the lies of revisionist history and are blinded by their own hatred and bigotry toward those of Southern birth and Southern sympathies.

It would be beneficial for them to understand that at some point the South will have had enough and the consequences can be biblical in their devastating proportions.

It has happened before. One has only to harken back to April of 1861 to remember what the consequences were as a result of the same sort of repression inflicted on the South then.

For those of you educated in public (Government) schools that date may have no meaning for you. In all likelihood, if you were taught anything of the so-called Civil War, you were taught the glorious North fought bravely to put down the “revolution” by the “slave-holding terrorists” of the South. Well, I’m here to tell you that is utter B.S.!

Look, there is a distinct difference between “my truth”, and “your truth” and “THE TRUTH”. “Ye shall know THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH shall make you FREE.” For those of you not from the “God fearing South”, that is a quote from the Bible, which is still sacrosanct in the South.

The South fought a war for Independence from the US. We lost.

For 140 years we have been rebuilding our beloved South. Not an easy task with US troops garrisoned thru out the South. Much as the Romans did to their conquered peoples, the US placed military installation after military installation, garrisoned with US troops, in nearly every Southern state to insure the South would remain under it’s thumb. We Southerners were considered too volatile to be left to our own devices. To bring home their point several more years of so-called “Reconstruction” followed which, in many cases, caused more damage to the South, and her people, than the actual shooting war.

We Southerners have had to suffer the indignity of being a “conquered people” and the embarrassment of living in an “occupied country” for 140 years. We have fought daily battles to maintain our identity and we doggedly refuse to go away. We are a continuous “thorn in the flesh” of the arrogant purveyors of the lies of Political Correctness about our history and our ancestors.

We have had enough… and we are nearing an historical point at which we will begin to fight back. Our barely harnessed anger is seething just below the surface.

Many of us are ready to make a stand… “this far and no farther”.

As a proud member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans I call upon our leadership to take whatever legal steps may be necessary to support the “Sons” in Alabama and throughout the nation. It is time to fight back.

I had the great good fortune to be able to attend the “Constitutional Convention” in Concord, North Carolina, in April of this year. I went because I am tired of being pushed and humiliated by the empty-headed hate mongers who continually trash the South. I had hoped to see a resurrected organization, geared up and ready to fight, come out of that Convention. Granted it has only been three months, or so, but I have yet to sense the ”fire in the belly” necessary to take the fight to the enemy.

It is time to meet our enemies, on our terms, at places of our choosing, and turn back this flood.

Each year, I stand in graveyard after graveyard, before crowds of varying sizes, and sing the praises of our Confederate Ancestors who saw their duty and did it, even at the cost of their lives. Often, unbidden tears moisten my eyes as I remember the sacrifices and the terrible costs the men lying beneath me made and paid. The soft murmur of the Southern breeze, in the uppermost boughs of the inevitable Southern pines encircling the lonely rows of gravestones, adds melancholy to the ceremony. Then, I leave the cemetery unfulfilled. There is something missing. I think often of what those men, I just stood over, and lauded, would think if they could rise from their resting places and see what we have done, or not done, to further the cause for which they fought. I can only conclude they would be disappointed in us, their heirs. And it hurts.

It is time, gentlemen, it is time, for Southerners to do honor to the Confederate blood flowing in our veins and say: “no more!” Here is where it ends! We will right the wrongs done to the South.

When we do that, then I can leave those cemeteries with my head held high in the knowledge that we have not let those heroes of the Southland down… that we have been true to our heritage. Then, and only then, we will be Southerners in the true sense of the word… and not in name only.

Let us vow, to not allow another anti-Southern incident to go unchallenged.

As the Israelis say: “Never again!”

"Longstreet"

The Battle We've Been Waiting For!

If you think the new Supreme Court Justice nominee, whoever it might be, will be a shoo-in, you have another "think" coming. The battle lines are drawn already.

This is going to be a knockdown, drag out! The Democrats will, I repeat, will filibuster and try to stop the full Senate from approving the nominee. They need no other reason than their “gut hatred” for President Bush.

The Democrats’ hatred for this President is visceral. They will do anything, and everything, in their power to “contain” President Bush… no matter the damage done to the country. That alone tells you all you need to know about the Democrat party. Remember, now, this is the party of tolerance, of peace, and love, and compassion, etc., etc.

It’s utter B.S.! (Bovine Scatology!)

President Bush will, in all likelihood, nominate a conservative candidate to fill the vacancy left by O’Connor. The fact that he, or she, is “conservative” will be enough for the Democrats to claim “extraordinary circumstances” and begin the filibuster. Then the Republicans will have to bring the hammer down with the “Nuclear Option” (or the “Constitutional Option” as it should be known). The Democrats will counter by stopping the Senate in its tracks. Or, as some refer to it: “Shutting down the government”.

“Shutting down the government” will suit me just fine! The only time I feel completely safe is when Congress is in recess, anyway!

This is a fight, in the making, since the election of 2000. This is what the elections in 2000, and 2004, were all about… control of the Supreme Court.

Lets face it. The Supreme Court has become the legislative branch of the US government. They can, and do, amend the constitution, at will, as they recently did with the “takings clause” of the 5th amendment. It stands to reason, the party controlling the Supreme Court, controls the government... and the country. It is just as simple as that.

So, the upcoming battle is about who will control the United States. Nothing else. If you think there is any other reason, you are fooling yourself. We are about to see a gigantic “power play” rolled out right in front of our eyes.

I cannot predict a winner in the forthcoming battle. The Democrats are so predictably juvenile in their actions, and so driven by hatred, as to be pathetic. The Republicans have yet to learn how to apply, and wield, power in the Senate. And then, there are the “Moderates”…they of the “yellow streak”. Those who will not, or cannot, take a stand on their convictions. They can, and very well may, completely destroy the efforts of both sides and force a consensus. I would remind you… “Consensus is not leadership!” (Lady Margaret Thatcher)

So, we have a royal mess staring us in the face over the next few weeks and months. This will be a political battle of monumental proportions.

I can only hope the Conservatives win. But I wouldn’t bet on it. If the Democrats win, well, we all lose!

“Longstreet”

The War in Iraq is Lost...REALLY?

OK, so the war in Iraq is lost. The US has lost again and will come home with our collective tails between our legs. Our losses have been unacceptable, etc., etc.

If you read, and listen, and view, the American Mainstream Media you will believe the statements above. If, however, you talk to service men, and women, who have been on the front lines in Iraq, you get a different story.

Why do you suppose that is?

The American media is anti-war, anti-military, and to put it bluntly, they sometimes seem anti-American! The Mainstream media, in the US, is largely controlled by the political Left and, as such, is bound to play down any successes the US has in the theatre of war... no matter the reasons for that war.

Much, if not most, of the media have never worn the uniform of any of America’s military branches. They haven’t the foggiest idea what war is all about, and certainly not how to wage a war. But, they are experts at telling the world what is wrong with America’s war effort and how badly America is losing and what a “quagmire” the US military has gotten itself into while they would not know a “military quagmire” if it bit them on the butt! Besides, a quagmire to them is defined by the US Military’s inability to invade, conquer, and withdraw in three weeks, tops!

Now, don’t misunderstand. The US is quite capable of beginning, and winning, a war in three weeks. However, we would have to tap our reserves of those dread “weapons of mass destruction” in order to do it, and frankly that gets a little messy. Plus, the MSM would have apoplexy if we even used a simple little battlefield nuke!

Their constant carping and complaining has begun to affect the morale of the troops. They have stepped over that invisible barrier between reporting factual news and have come very close to giving aid and comfort to the enemy. We used to call that sedition.

Freedom of the press is a privilege, a constitutional right, in America. But with that freedom comes responsibility. It is quite clear the MSM has no concept of their responsibility to America. It is enough that America has granted them the “right” of “freedom of the press”. They willingly use that right, irresponsibly, and assume the predictability of a loose cannon.

It is very difficult to believe the MSM is not deliberately misreporting the facts on the ground in Iraq.

I have spoken to servicemen, just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq, and they tell me they have access to US network and cable news in Iraq. They told me they couldn’t believe the reports they saw on the television news. One soldier said to me, it was as if they (American troops) were fighting one war and the press was reporting on another war… somewhere, other than in Iraq.

Abuses such as these are going to cost the MSM in the long run. Unfortunately, it can only lead to a loss of the freedom they say they value so much, but abuse so willingly. Sooner, or later, the country will tire of their continuous efforts at denigrating this wonderful country and their first amendment rights will, sadly, be curtailed.

It is a shame to see a great institution collapse inwards, upon itself, as the MSM is doing. But, there will be a reckoning, and not that far in the future.

There are many more sources of news available to the public now than ever before in history. No longer are consumers of news tied to a newspaper, or a certain TV network, or a cable network. With a click of the “mouse” the world’s news media is at your disposal. Many, like myself, are availing themselves of it.We get our news, often unfiltered through the lenses of the MSM, and we are better informed for it.

The MSM is about to get their “comeuppance”. The sooner, the better... unfortunately!

“Longstreet”