If you are a regular visitor to this blog, then you know I have not been entirely happy with the President’s nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to the US Supreme Court. In two earlier posts I raise some misgivings about it.
Now comes word of his Pro Bono work for Gay Rights Activists.
The problem with this is … it was Pro Bono. “For the good” and without pay. In other words, he didn’t HAVE to do it. He was not compelled to do it. But, he did. This is deeply troubling for conservatives on my side of the political spectrum.
I can only believe this is another marker to indicate Judge Roberts is far less conservative than we have been led to believe… and I don’t like it.
I urge the President to drop Judge Roberts’ nomination and give us a true conservative candidate for the Supreme Court. Judge Edith Brown Clement would be an excellent choice. Plus, it would have the desired effect of driving the Democrats on the Judicial Committee nuts!
Judge Edith Clement is currently serving on the 5th circuit US Court of Appeals. She is from Alabama… a Southerner. (I have to tell you, I like that!)
Oh, by the way, she is a member of the Federalists Society and there doesn’t seem to be any disagreement over that… as there is over whether, or not, Roberts was/is a member.
To my conservative friends, sorry, I just can’t get behind the Roberts nomination. We have been misled many times in recent decades by chameleon-like candidates who appear before the Judicial Committee as one kind of candidate and after confirmation turn out to be something far different from the person we thought we were getting. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”.
Besides, there are a number of imminently qualified judges out there from the undeniably conservative side of the political spectrum who would make tremendous candidates. I just can’t accept that Roberts is the best the administration could find.
I don’t really care if the open seat goes to a woman or a man. It makes no difference to me. What does make a difference, a huge difference, is whether the person sitting in that chair is a conservative.
Judge Roberts has still not convinced me that he is.
“Longstreet”
Sixty years ago today, the US bombed the living daylights out of Japan with the first ever atomic bomb drop. They still did not give up. Three days later, the US dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Then they gave up.
The crew of the Enola Gay was not instructed to try to miss all temples, schools and hospitals. For that would have gone against the point of the raid. The point was to kill as many Japanese civilians as we possibly could with one blow. It was thought such devastation would shock the Japanese into surrender. It did not. 140,000 Japanese men, women, and children were blown to bits on that fateful morning. Still the Japanese High Command and the Japanese Emperor would not give the command to surrender.
The last bomb we had in our arsenal was dropped on Nagasaki. The Japanese did not know it was the last one. Just the thought of more atomic bombs being dropped on their sacred land brought the war home to them as nothing else could.
Earlier, US warplanes had killed far more Japanese in the firebombing of Tokyo than were killed in the blast at Hiroshima. But it took the awful devastation of two atomic bombs to bring the dedicated Japanese warriors to the decks of the USS Missouri to sign the articles of surrender. Such was the single-minded dedication to the honor of their country.
Estimates of one million casualties would have been suffered by American troops if we had, indeed, invaded the home islands of Japan. But, that was exactly what we were about to do.
You see… this was a time in American history when Americans did not second-guess their right to live free. This was a time when Americans would do whatever it took to keep their freedom and to ensure the safety of their families in the States. The key phrase in the previous sentence is “Whatever it took”. It took two atomic bombs and the killing of approximately quarter million men women, and children to gain victory over the Japanese and bring peace to our world again.
The Japanese wanted a war with the US. To ensure they got that war, they brought the war to us on Sunday morning, December 7th, 1941. On August 6th, 1945 we took the war to them.
Here we are 60 years later and another, much lesser entity has brought another war to the US. A war we did not seek, did not want. But we have it never the less.
They took down two buildings… we took down two countries. But the war goes on. Why? Because we do not have the will to do whatever it takes to win. As a result out military men and women are being ground up in a meat grinder of homemade bombs and hit and run tactics while our troops stand by awaiting the order to do what it takes to clean that mess up in Iraq.
The war in Iraq could be over in days. But, not without a Commander-in-Chief,, and a Congress, with the fortitude to give the order.
President Harry Truman did, and I shall be forever grateful.
“Longstreet”
You know, I have been puzzled for months as to why, exactly, Al Jazeera TV is still on the air. Why?
Can you say “Tokyo Rose”? It sure sounds, looks, and feels, like a propaganda tool for the terrorists.
Now, I’m just a dumb ole country boy, but it strikes me as more than just a little strange that they break all the BIG stories, you know, the “inside stuff”, on the terrorists. They seem to, somehow, get videotape of things like beheadings, and such. And then, there are the coded video messages from Bin Laden and Zawahiri. Al Jazeera gets them all…first. Is it just me, or does it bother you, too?
Al Jazeera is located in Qatar, just down the road from CentCom headquarters. Isn’t that even stranger?
Now, I have mulled it over for many months and I have concluded… that US Intelligence Services are using al Jazeera. It is the only logical explanation I can come up with. It’s the only one making any sense at all.
I cannot believe the US military would allow a communications tool with a worldwide reach to remain on the air. Unless… we are using them.
Sooner or later, we will know the truth about it all. In the meantime, it is a puzzlement.
Now, about that super secret underground prison where the US is said to be holding those terrorist prisoners… good! Keep them out of sight until we can squeeze the last drop of information out of them.
I have no idea if the claims by Amnesty International have any validity, or not. Frankly, I don’t care. I have a burning memory of those 3000 people killed in New York by terrorists. Whatever it takes to get the information we need to put a serious hurting on “those people” is fine. Do it.
We are in “early days” of this conflict, which will, in my expectation, last many decades. Anything, and everything, we can do to ensure our eventual victory is acceptable.
We are at war. I suppose we will have to continually remind Americans of this fact... until the bombs begin tearing apart our citizens in shopping malls, and subways, and tunnels, and schools, and airliners, etc., etc.
That terrible time is not nearly as far away as we would like to fool ourselves into believing.
I say again: We Are At WAR!
“Longstreet”
Recently, I wrote in this blog that if China attacks Taiwan, not only will China have to deal with the US military, but China will also have to deal with the Japanese military which will come into the fray on the side of the US and Taiwan.
For some time now, Japan has had the third largest Navy in the world. Plus, it is a modern Navy. Most of its ships are new, or nearly new, and built by Japanese in Japanese shipyards.
Japan trains constantly. Her troops are leaning forward and they are sharp as a razor.
Back in the late 70’s or early 80’s China began its military build-up. China is seen by Japan as a direct threat to Japan. To offset the Chinese military buildup, Japan cranked up her war materials machinery nearly a decade and a half ago..
Under Japan’s constitution she is only allowed 240,000 self-defense troops. Japan is not allowed to engage in warfare… except in self-defense. That no longer is much of a problem. A move is underway in Japan to remove that little obstacle from the Japanese constitution. There is every reason to believe those Japanese politicians in the Diet will be successful.
It would be well to take notice that in February, of 2005, the US and Japan agreed to work together to protect Taiwan should the Chicoms attack her. That explains one reason the rhetoric, coming from China, about Taiwan, has cooled, somewhat. Not much, but some.
Japan has but several new, modern, ships of war since the early 90’s. One even appears to be a Carrier. Expectations are that Japan would deny having a Carrier, but it sure LOOKS like a Carrier. (A flattop runway and a helicopter landing pad off to one side of the runway.)
Look, China really should think twice about going to war with the US over Taiwan. Since she will face three opposing forces: the military of Taiwan, the US military, and the Japanese military.
Japan has one of the best-trained, best-equipped militaries in the world. Plus, their warrior nation history should give any adversary pause. On any battlefield, Japan will more than hold it’s on, it will put a serious “hurting” on its opposition.
When the pushing and shoving begins between China, and the US, over Taiwan, do not be surprised when the Japanese navy sails over the horizon to the aid of the nation which so completely defeated her 60 years ago.
Having been born juts a few months before Pearl Harbor; the formative years of my youth were spent hearing the hate-speech against Japan. I believe, to this day, it was right what the US did to Japanese Americans and to Japan with the Atomic Bomb. But the Japan of 2005 is a new, a different, Japan. So, if she feels an obligation to aid US forces on the battlefield, we welcome that assistance.
But… there is one thing to keep in mind. Once the Japanese Military “genie” is out of the bottle, there will be hell to pay getting it stuffed back into that bottle.
Something to think about.“Longstreet”
How much more diplomacy with Iran before the Mad Mullahs slam Israel with a nuclear tipped missile? HUH?
Weston European nations including Great Britain, France, and Germany, are once again trying to “talk” Iran out of continuing to enrich uranium to weapons grade. Once they have accomplished that, would anyone care to hazard a guess as to how long until they choose Israel as a target for a “test” fired missile?
The Mullahs are rather enjoying the “Jaw-Jaw” of the westerners. It makes them feel important. Much the same reason they feel it necessary to build nuclear weapons. That have a gigantic inferiority complex and all the attention from the west strokes their HUGE egos into believing they are something more modern that a backwards 13th century, third-world nation state.
I am beginning the think it is a “toss up” as to which nation is at the top of the hit list in the War on Terror. Syria, or Iran. Surely we must hit one or the other, or both. Both have a lot going for them as they vie for first place on that list.
Syria, while a pain in the backside of the world, is not really threatening anybody outside of their immediate circle of Middle Eastern neighbors.
Iran, on the other hand, is a different story. Once they have mounted those nuclear warheads on the missiles they already have, they can strike far outside the Middle East and deep into Europe. I still feel their first target will be Israel, simply because they know the minute they light up the first nuclear missile, the US will blast them back into the Stone Age. So they have to make that first shot count. It may be their last. Their deep-seated hatred for Israel will not allow them to chance losing an opportunity to visit death and destruction upon the Israelis.
The Europeans have learned nothing from two world wars, nothing. They are still, to this day, attempting to placate their adversaries by bowing and scraping and diplomatically “kissing-up”. They had better wake up and get a grasp on the situation. You see, their perennial protector is sorta busy. The US has its hands full, right now. The US is, as they say, otherwise occupied.
The point of all this rambling is to say simply, it’s time to stop talking with Iran and start doing. Take out a few of their nuclear installations, their enrichment plants, and such. That will get their attention. They do not believe the West has “the stones” for it, so they simply disregard all the diplomatic blather and continue their menacing ways. The quickest way to get them to the negotiating table is to slap them around a little.
It is trite to say, I know, but the Iranians understand power and the application of power. Sad to say, our European cousins, apparently, do not.
So, the US had better hasten their exit from Iraq, so they can get their weapons cleaned and ready for another nasty fight in the desert, one nation over, in Iran.
I mean, after all, who else is there to do it? HUH?“Longstreet”
Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? Did you know his trial is over? Did you know he was sentenced? Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV/Radio? Didn't think so. Everyone should hear what the judge had to say. The ruling was by Judge William Young, US District Court. Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say. The defendant's response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his "allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah," and he defiantly stated "I think I will not apologize for my actions" and told the court "I am at war with your country." Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below. On January 30, 2003, in United States vs. Reid. Judge Young said:****************"Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you. On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive with the other. That's 80 years. On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million.
"The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines. The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further. This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.
"Let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice. You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or if you think you are a soldier. You are not----- you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice. So war talk is way out of line in this court."
"You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were, and he said: "You're no big deal." You are no big deal."
"What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have, as honestly as I know how, tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty, and admit you are guilty, of doing. And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know."
"It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges."
"We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bare any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure."
"Here in this courtroom, and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is, in fact, being done. The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice."
"See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will."
"Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down."*********************
So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We need more judges like Judge Young, but that's another subject.My thanks to the "UNKNOWN" author of this email.Longstreet
John Bolton to be Recess Appointed?
The Washington rumor mill is all a twitter with the latest “hot” rumor. The rumor? That President Bush will appoint John Bolton to the ambassadorship to the United Nations sometime very soon.
The Democrats, of course, are in apoplexy over the very idea that the President, especially a Republican President, could go around them and install a candidate, of his choosing, into a position, any position, he deems is appropriate.
“Why, how dare he?”
Look, what you are seeing is something we have certainly had little of since Harry Truman. For those of you too young, or too naïve, to recognize what you are seeing… it’s called “leadership”.
The President chose Bolton, precisely BECAUSE he is abrasive and “bull-headed”. Too long we have endured “Weak Willies” at the UN being “rolled” by the Socialists and the Dictators who riddle the place.
Bolton is a “Shape Up or Ship Out” message to the UN from the President of the United States.
The UN has become a Cesspool of Depravity. Worst of all, it is using the dollars of the US for much of it’s operating expenses while millions of dollars are lining the pockets of employees in positions of leadership within the organization. The US wants that changed. Bolton is the “Expeditor”. If he ruffles feathers that is perfectly all right. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
The UN is on its way to being invited to leave the shores of the United States. If it continues the current course, its destruction is assured and the people of the US will demand that it vacate the premises. We have had our fill of their arrogant behavior, their breaking of US laws and getting away with it under the cloak of Diplomatic Immunity. The bribes, the meddling, the inability to control UN troops in the field, and the list grows daily. The UN is in a mess!
President Bush wants to make an effort to clean it up. I don’t think there is any realistic hope of accomplishing that mission, but he wants to try. Bolton is his point man.
If this doesn’t do it, The UN/US affiliation will be, for all practical purposes, over, Kaput!
Frankly, that would suit me just fine!“Longstreet”
