McCain - Palin

What a great choice.

Just shows McCain's independence streak and his wisdom.

I was hoping he'd choose Sen. Elizabeth Dole but I have to admit this is a wilder, braver choice.

It doesn't mean the election will be easy, though. This forces Obama to play the race card. It hasn't occurred to him that every person who votes for him because he's black is playing that card -- and there certainly are plenty of those!

The counter argument to that, of course, is that every woman voting for Palin is playing the feminist card EXCEPT for what she stands for and what she's done. Why, she's done more in two years as Governor than Obama has done in six years in a state senate and three years in Congress. That is one impressive lady.

And John McCain is one impressive gentleman to make such a great choice.

Hooray .... and, for good measure....HALLELUJAH.

Dissing Olympic Dissenters

Today I am a HUGE Kobi Bryant/LeBron James fan. Not because they and The Team won the gold, although I think that's grand.

But because of what they said and did. In interviews and on the floor both stated and demonstrated their love and appreciation for their country and for their sport. They demonstrated superb sportsmanship and when they stood on the podium, they put their hands over their hearts while the national anthem was played. In doing so they won my heart, my loyalty and my fanship (if that's not a word it should be) for life. Thank you, Kobi and LeBron!

As for the athletes who went to Beijing to represent the USA and refused to place their hands over their hearts when the national anthem was played (you know who you are), I'll be watching for your endorsements. When I find them I will boycott those companies and write to their CEOs to tell them what I did and why.

It's one thing to express political dissent in America and it's quite acceptable -- but NOT while you are representing the country.

Pelosi, Catholicism and the Beginning of Life

This morning on Meet the Press Nancy Pelosi, defending Obama's waffling statement on abortion, said she's a born and bred Catholic and that the Catholic church in all its history has not been able to determine when life began. She seems to have missed something in her breeding:

The Roman Catholic Church says that deliberately causing an abortion is a grave moral wrong. It bases this doctrine on natural law and on the written word of God.

The Church says that human life begins when the woman's egg is fertilized by a male sperm.

From that moment a unique life begins, independent of the life of the mother and father. The features that distinguish us from our parents - the colour of our eyes, the shape of our face - are all laid down in the genetic code that comes into existence then.

Each new life that begins at this point is not a potential human being but a human being with potential.

Since the sixteenth century, causing or having an abortion led to automatic excommunication.

This is stated in the Code of Canon Law (1983): "A person who actually procures an abortion incurs automatic excommunication" (Canon 1398).

The Church condemned abortion as early as the 2nd century CE: the Didache, written in the 2nd century (some time after 100 CE), states: "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish."

Early Christian doctrine is clear on the matter.

What They Said Then

Pre-War Quotes from Democrats

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998. Source:http://www.cnn.com/US/9802/04/us.un.iraq/

"Together we must also confront the new hazards of chemical and biological weapons, and the outlaw states, terrorists and organized criminals seeking to acquire them. Saddam Hussein has spent the better part of this decade, and much of his nation's wealth, not on providing for the Iraqi people, but on developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the missiles to deliver them."
President Clinton, Jan. 27, 1998. Source: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/27/sotu/transcripts/clinton/index2.html

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
Madeleine Albright, Feb 18, 1998. Source: http://www.reasons-for-war-with-iraq.info/albright_2-18-1998.pdf

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/iraq/iraq172.htm

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998. Source: http://www.reasons-for-war-with-iraq.info/senate_letter_10-09-98.pdf

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998. Source: http://www.house.gov/pelosi/priraq1.htm

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
Madeleine Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999. Source: http://www.columbiachronicle.com/back/1999_fall/99nov22/vp2.html

"This December will mark three years since United Nations inspectors last visited Iraq. There is no doubt that since that time, Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to refine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001.

Source: http://www.reasons-for-war-with-iraq.info/ford_letter_to_bush_12-5-2001.pdf

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002. Source: http://www.senate.gov/~levin/newsroom/release.cfm?id=211370

"We know that he has stored away secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/gore_text092302.html
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/gore_text092302.html

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002. Source: http://www.reasons-for-war-with-iraq.info/ted-kennedy_9-27-2002.pdf

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002.

"My position is very clear: The time has come for decisive action to eliminate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. I'm a co-sponsor of the bipartisan resolution that's presently under consideration in the Senate. Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave threat to America and our allies..."
John Edwards (D, NC), Oct. 7, 2002 Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/5441/

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force — if necessary — to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002. Source: http://www.reasons-for-war-with-iraq.info/john-kerry-10-9-2002.pdf

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years .... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002. (Rockefeller has removed this from the web)

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002. Source: http://www.house.gov/waxman/news_files/news_statements_res_iraq_10_10_02.htm

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members.... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct. 10, 2002. Source: http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction.
Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002. Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/09/ftn/main532270.shtml

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime .... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction .... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ...."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003. source: http://www.reasons-for-war-with-iraq.info/john-kerry-1-23-2003.pdf

They all saw the same intelligence. Over a decade they all came to the same conclusions.