…General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker wasted their valuable time testifying before Congress.

Oliver North tells it like it is.

Five years ago this week, American soldiers and Marines liberated Baghdad from Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard and the foreign fedayeen who had flooded into the despot’s capital. For those of us who were there, it was an unforgettable event. But as Ambassador Ryan Crocker so cogently noted this week while he and Gen. David Petraeus were testifying before Congress, “The euphoria of that moment evaporated long ago.” The assembled lawmakers, perched on their raised daises, barely noted the anniversary — while subjecting the warrior and the diplomat to a 16-hour spectacle. For the general and the ambassador, it had to be an excruciating exercise in patience and bladder control.

The hearings — two in the Senate and two more in the House — all were choreographed carefully to give maximum exposure to the potentates on the Potomac. The masters of the mainstream media all were gathered. Professional protesters were present. The solons, all carefully prepared by their staffs, made their little speeches and then shamelessly angled for the best “gotcha” question to win the sound bite sweepstakes — and the honor of being replayed repeatedly on the news and entertainment channels. Like so many of these hearings, it was a bit like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s “Greatest Show on Earth” — without a ringmaster. I know — as they say — I’ve “been there, done that.”

Yeah, he’s “been there, done that”, all right (and I can’t say I envy the man for that particular ordeal, when I worked on Wall Street some quarter century ago, my immediate supervisor, who had gone through a congressional grilling over the Hunt Brothers affair, told me in graphic detail what that’s like), though I don’t know if he was ever issued the tee-shirt. I’ll say this though: Despite the rhetoric of our political left, the man is the kind of patriot this country needs a hell of a lot more of, and the kind of journalist the media should be proud of (fat chance of that!) — the kind who calls it like he sees it and retains the perspective that he is an American who knows what it means to serve his country in time of war. The kind of guy who would rather cover a combat situation with shrapnel and bullets whizzing past his head than sit in a lounge in the “Green Zone” and get his information second hand, or buy photos from some photographer who may or may not have Photo-Shopped them to favor the enemy’s propaganda campaigns.

Sadly, the attending members of Congress evinced little interest in hearing from a decorated general fighting a bloody military campaign or a skillful U.S. ambassador trying to help a democratically elected government survive against brutal foreign and internal foes. Rather, it seemed as if our elected representatives would have preferred hearing from soothsayers who could read palms and interpret horoscopes. That our Congress has sunk to such a level is a sad testament to the state of our political process.

Sadly, indeed.

Our Democrat-run Congress isn’t interested in facts, only in a political agenda that hasn’t got room for the concept of victory or for the elements of common sense necessary to protect our country from future terrorist attacks. In order to appeal to their political base, which consists of a Code Pink/Michael Moore/Cindy Sheehan (remember her?)/George Soros/Jane Fonda/Barbra Streissand mentality, they are more concerned with an agenda that would involve our abandoning the Iraqis to an Islamic extremist take-over and the resulting Taliban style rule that would transform Iraq into what would amount to a terrorist stronghold with “legitimate” nation status.

This is a very liberal “progressive” point of view. Let’s enjoy instant gratification without giving the proverbial rat’s hind quarters about whatever tragedies it will present for us down the road apiece.

So rather than ask pertinent questions or seek the truth about our brave troops’ progress in Iraq…

When will it end? When will we be out? When can we take the money we’re spending on the war and divert it to bailing out our constituent borrowers and lenders caught up in the subprime mortgage mess? Petraeus and Crocker came equipped with facts, maps, charts and progress reports, but for this crowd, they should have brought Ouija boards, tarot cards and a crystal ball.

I don’t know, though I can guess, how fellow right thinkers and other sane Americans feel about this, but speaking for myself, I find it rather chilling that the majority of those we’ve elected to lead our country seem to be addressing this grave responsibility we’ve bestowed upon them using a far left field (perhaps pre-adolescent would be a more accurate term) approach.

They apparently don’t see fit to apply any sort of reality to their reasoning, that’s for sure, it’s more like “screw the down-the-road penalties, get the votes now!”

Well, good for them! When suicide bombers, briefed in Baghdad, walk into restaurants, theatres, shopping malls and other crowded places in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and Duluth and blow themselves up along with scores of men, women and children, our fearless leaders can always “blame Bush”.

Speaking of whom…

While Congress was berating the general and the ambassador, the commander in chief was honoring one of the more than 4,000 Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. In an Oval Office ceremony, President Bush presented the Medal of Honor — our nation’s highest award for valor — to the parents of Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy SEAL. Mike — as his fellow SEALs called him — was killed Sept. 29, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq, when he threw himself on top of an enemy grenade in order to spare the lives of his fellow SEALs.

His platoon commander, now a lieutenant commander with whom our Fox News team has been embedded, said of the 25-year-old hero, “He made an instantaneous decision to save our teammates.” Though wounded by shrapnel in the explosion, one of those with him that terrible morning said of Monsoor’s unhesitating action: “He never took his eyes off the grenade. His only movement was down toward it. He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs’ lives.”

Monsoor is just the fourth member of our armed forces to be awarded the Medal of Honor since war was declared against us Sept. 11, 2001. Call your grandstanding members of Congress and ask whether they know the four names.

Hmmmm, let’s see, there were Corporal Jason Dunham, USMC, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Paul Smith and Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, Iraq, and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Afghanistan.

Saying “Thank you” is not nearly enough.

I wonder if Representative John Murtha knows these four names or, for that matter, if he even cares. Probably not.

…defines, in this column, the true source of the “War On Children”.

Put as succinctly as this, any logic blessed American voter reading the column should stop and ponder:

1. Why aren’t the Democrats in Congress thinking about the future their social programs will leave to “the children”, who will grow up to be tax-paying adults? Why do they attempt to emulate failed European policies while ignoring the negative results of same?

Could it be that they’re only concerned with the politics of the now rather than the realities of the future?

2. Assuming they are concerned about the future of our country and about “the children”, is this simply a case of the Democrats being incapable of assessing the down-the-road ramifications of policies they set today?

Are political leaders who lack even an iota of perspicacity qualified to lead the country?

The United States of America is a perpetually ongoing concept, yet the Democrats treat it as though it is a political Busy Box whose attention span needs only to extend from one Election Day to the next.

If the Democrats feel the need to invoke “the children”, they need look no further for invokees than those occupying seats to the left of the aisle.

I am happy to announce that I was wrong when I predicted that the amnesty supported by the President, the Democrats and a few worthless Republicans was likely a done deal. Fortunately, the bill kinda sorta fell apart in the heat of a rather fierce battle.

The jubilation that I have since received in emails and read of in a number of other places, however, should be tempered: It was such a spirited ruckus, including a Republican filibuster and politicians of both parties crossing the aisle and some proposals that threw everyone for a loop that the folks at the Tower of Babel could sooner have produced a coherent result.

Harry Reid finally jerked the bill, stating time concerns, so it is not yet any kind of a resolved argument.

The immigration “grand bargain” imploded in the Senate last night under a Republican-led filibuster, with the bill under attack from both sides and collapsing of its own weight.

In two votes yesterday Republicans blocked Democratic leaders’ bid to end to the debate and hold a final vote on the bill — each time joined by more than 10 Democrats.

At the end of the day, it was certainly the hammering voters all over the country gave our senators and their staffs regarding the will of the people that spawned those results.

To add to the positive side, RINO John McCain, a Kennedy Kohort in the attempted sellout of America, went away mad. I’ll bet he was muttering “drat, and double drat!”

Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and a 2008 presidential candidate who had invested a lot of his political capital in the issue, refused to talk to reporters as he left the Senate floor.

“I don’t have anything to say. I apologize, but I don’t have anything to say,” he said as he ducked inside the senators-only elevator. Mr. McCain was one of the seven Republicans who sided with Democrats to break the filibuster.

This is far from over, count on it.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican and another who voted to break the filibuster, said he will try to force the bill back onto the schedule.

“We could see the finish line,” he said. “At the end of the day, there’s a small group of people, probably on both sides, that want to make sure we don’t succeed. And we’ll find a way around that.”

Mr. Reid left open the possibility of returning to the bill again this year, but Democrats said that will depend on Mr. Bush.

“When the president calls Harry Reid and says I can get some more votes for you, we’ll come back to it. But until that time we can’t,” he said. “They said he made some phone calls, but he could only deliver six or seven votes.”

Passing an amnesty bill is of vital strategic importance to the Democrats: Doing so could literally blast the Republicans out of the ball park. The severe damage it would also inflict on our economy and our national work force are of no concern to the Democrats, not when compared to their party’s political aspirations. So much for patriotism.

Outside winning the War on Terror, the same amnesty is Bush’s first priority, and the President can’t campaign for reelection, as he’s had his two terms.

Given that his own political base is opposed to amnesty for criminal aliens, this says quite a bit,
that he has motives that are strong enough that he’s willing to tell his own party to go piss up a rope.

I’ll bet that when the bill was yanked (not defeated, remember), he was on the telephone with one of his senior people at the Committee On Foreign Relations, discussing strategies for garnering more support for the next go-round on the issue. Amnesty soon would make the transition, three or so years in the future, to the North American Union infinitely smoother.

Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy and the rest of that crowd will no doubt be browbeating or offering pork bribes to the Democrat senators that oppose amnesty, setting the stage, along with Bush, for enough votes to kill a filibuster and win a vote.

The amnesty bill will be bock!

…. will do so because, out of negligence, malevolence toward the right or simple ignorance , take your pick, they want for themselves and their fellow Americans what is on this list at Always On Watch.

Here is a RightMarch alert on H.R. 4128, the proposed “Private Property Rights Protection Act” that will deny any federal funding to cities or states that exploit SCOTUS’ notorious Eminent Domain ruling{Kelo vs. City of New London} by taking away a citizen’s home, place of business or other property for the purpose of commercial development:

ALERT: As you know, the Supreme Court has decided to allow city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another. In “Kelo vs. City of New London”, five Justices (led by David Souter) ruled that “eminent domain” allows any local government to TAKE anyone’s private property if the government will generate greater tax revenue — or any other economic benefits — when the land is developed by the new owner.

Thank goodness, someone in Congress has moved quickly to counter this dictatorial and ANTI-constitutional decision by the Supreme Court — but WE have to make sure this effort passes!

Last week (on October 27), the House Judiciary Committee approved legislation responding to the Kelo ruling: H.R. 3135, the “Private Property Rights Protection Act” was approved 27-3, and prohibits the use of federal funds by state and local governments that use eminent domain for the purposes of commercial development. House Judiciary Chairman Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) was the bill’s sponsor; House Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) also held a parallel hearing on HR 3405, the “Strengthening the Ownership of Private Property” (STOPP) Act.

Both of these bills would be GREAT, but the BEST news is that the two bills have now merged into H.R. 4128, the “Private Property Rights Protection Act.” Prior to the merge, both bills had strong bipartisan support — H.R. 3135 with 136 cosponsors and H.R. 3405 with 112. This means we have a GOOD chance of getting this bill through!

Rep. Sensenbrenner’s bill reads, “No State or political subdivision of a State shall exercise its power of eminent domain, or allow the exercise of such power by any person or entity to which such power has been delegated, over property to be used for economic development or over property that is subsequently used for economic development, if that State or political subdivision receives Federal economic development funds during any fiscal year in which it does so.” In other words, if they take away your property, the Feds will take away their funding.

Wow — a single bill that makes common sense, that seeks to counteract an out-of-control judiciary. This is a RARE opportunity.

We’ve got to move this legislation QUICKLY — greedy local governments have already started taking advantage of this court decision, in order to pad their own pockets at the expense of the citizens. For example, John Fund reports that “Officials in the beachfront town of Freeport, Texas, announced they would move forward with plans to commandeer property owned by two seafood companies in order to allow the construction of a 900-slip private marina.”

We need to FLOOD Congress NOW with messages of support for this legislation, so that it can move to the President’s desk right away!

TAKE ACTION: What the Supreme Court has just implemented in America is FASCISM. The actual definition of “fascism” is “state control over the individual and the economy using regimentation and regulation… fascism prefers state control over ostensibly private property rather than nationalization.”

Do you get it? Once again, the judiciary is tyrannical and OUT OF CONTROL. We’ve GOT to take action to stop them –It is CRITICAL that you ACT TODAY! If we can FLOOD the offices of all our Congressmen and Senators with TENS OF THOUSANDS of messages, telling them to QUICKLY pass this legislation, we CAN stop this dangerous Supreme Court ruling dead in its tracks. But we need YOUR help. Click below to send a FREE message to your U.S. Representative and BOTH of your Senators, urging them to SUPPORT H.R. 4128, the “Private Property Rights Protection Act”:

http://capwiz.com/sicminc/issues/alert/?alertid=8191521&type=CO

NOTE: Be sure to send this Alert to EVERYONE you know who wants to help RESTORE the private property rights that the Supreme Court took away! Thank you!

Sincerely,

William Greene, President
RightMarch.com

If you’ll recall, the oppressive Supreme Court ruling was the work of left leaning justices while those of the conservative persuation dissented.

This didn’t come as a surprise to me, it was just another example of ways the left is endeavoring to give the government more control over our lives, in this case surrendering our property rights to the whims of opportunistic, corrupt, unctuous, seedy, sleazy, kickback-taking local politicians like those in New London, Connecticut.

As Bill Greene pointed out in the above alert, the decision enables a condition that amounts to fascism, the very label the left is constantly placing on conservatism. It’s amusing that while those misguided souls call us Republicans fascists, their actions speak loud enough to let us know whom the real fascists are.

Please call, email or fax your senators and representatives, make some noise to let them know that their constituents are most aggressively behind the passage of H.R. 4128.

This is a new alert from Rightmarch, addressing the pork barrel spending issue:

ALERT: Last week, the House of Representatives was poised to dramatically cut over $50 BILLION in wasteful “pork-barrel” spending. It seemed like they were finally ready to do the job we SENT them there to do! Then, far-left groups like MoveOn.org sent an e-mail to their members, and over 160,000 of these leftists wrote or called Congress to demand they NOT trim back our ridiculously bloated budget…

The work of RightMarch.com is funded entirely by voluntary contributions. Help us spread the word with a donation to RightMarch.com!
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/rightmarch/?a=7

Previously, I linked to a page at the Thomas website. 

The site is a running record of proceedings in both houses of Congress, and a good place to peruse the work output of those people we send to Capitol Hill to represent our, and our fellow Americans’ interests in the governance of our country.

The sheer number of ongoing bills for Constitutional amendments, some important, some frivolous, boggles the mind.

There are bills up for everything from renaming federal buildings to allocating funds.

I find reading summaries of what was debated and decided in different Congressional sessions intensely amusing.

When I think of our original Congress I always envision a bunch of patriots who were instrumental in winning the American Revolution pounding out the legal and moral issues of their time and holding emotion-charged strategy debates, each man making bold, profound statements to emphasize his points.

Today, I envision these two giant chambers, full of lawyer/politicians, in long hours of hot debate:  

“No way! The fifth paragraph has to appear above the third, and a comma inserted between the sixth and seventh words, space after comma.” 

“Get real. If there’s gonna be a comma anywhere in the first sentence, it’ll be between the fourth and fifth words, and once we’ve reached agreement on that, we can debate whether or not to include your proposal for a space after it.”

“That space after the comma, I’ll have you know, will clarify many questions voters in my district have on this issue. Listen, how about if we delete the colon in sentence two of the second paragraph, replace it with a semicolon and….”

{just a bit of Seth-humor, there}

Go check out the link and explore the site if you’ve never been there, a good way to keep up with what’s being debated on Capitol Hill and who sponsors and supports each issue.