LMC Ambassador/Butt Kicker

Well--how many of you knew that I was an Ambassador/Butt Kicker? I have had an eventful week. Rabid liberals descended on my blog where I was accused of all kinds of things, a guy made a pass at me over the phone while doing phonecalls and the list goes on. But just when I thought all liberals were nuts James made my day by writing the most hilarious post I have ever read. You know James is a decent liberal when you consider the fact that he has been commenting on my blog almost since day one of when I started this blog a year ago and has never gotten banned. He is also the only liberal blogger to date that I have linked to aside from my local links. One of the things I love about him is his great humor. I seriously think he should be a writer for Saturday Night Live.

All that to say in his latest humor post he & I are ambassadors to Venezuela and we get a little payback for Chavez's most recent comments about Bush being the devil. I can't even begin to tell you how hard or long I laughed. I was only going to post excerpts but its so good that I am going to post all of it since James gave me permission but make sure you hop over there and tell him how awesome it is.

I did edit some of the language but tried to leave most of it on there since it added to the humor so the following post would probably be rated PG/PG-13 :-). Enjoy!!!

Bush Appoints Liberal Blogger As Ambassador to Venezuela

WASHINGTON – After Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush “the devil”, President Bush countered by appointing liberal blogger, James Manning as Ambassador to Venezuela. The move was a seen as gesture to smooth relationships between the two Presidents.

Although he was forced to resign as Press Secretary earlier this year after an altercation with George Will and getting into a fight with the First Lady and the President's mother, Mr. Manning was appreciative of the confidence in his ability.

Mr. Manning will be front and center on the international stage and will have to maneuver delicately while engaging one of President’s Bush more vocal detractors.

Immediately after accepting the appointment, Mr. Manning left LAX on Air Force One along with Deputy Secretary Chatterbox to meet with the President Chavez in his office in Caracas.

Scene on Air Force One

James: The President said he trusted me to do this so I don’t see why you are here.

Chatter: I’m here to ensure that you don’t cause an international incident.

James: What makes you think I would cause an international…

Chatter: You got into fight with the First Lady and the President’s mom at the White House. Is that evidence enough?

(Air Force One lands in Caracas and the two Diplomats are ushered to the President’s office for formal talks)

Scene in President Chavez’s Office

Pr. Chavez: Good morning Mr. Manning, Ms. Chatter, welcome to Venezuela. I hope you find our hospitalities worthy of approval.

James: I’m sure we will. Look here, dawg. Lets cut the formalities. You were out of line at the UN and we’re here to put you on notice.

Chatter: What Mr. Manning means is that the President feels that your speech was not appropriate and we’d like to open the channels of communication. After all, your country plays a very important role in the world’s economy.

Pr. Chavez: That it does (sits down and pulls out a cigar). So the President didn’t take kindly to me calling him the devil, huh?

Chatter: No he didn’t. However…

James: There’s no however in this. You need to apologize and pay me my royalties.

Pr. Chavez: Royalties?

James: Hell yeah. I made up the line of calling the President a devil. You need to come off the loot. Then you need to issue an apology... immediately.

(President Chavez leans back in chair, blows cigar smoke out his mouth and grins)

Pr. Chavez: I saw the news conference when you were appointed Press Secretary. You have big kahunas my friend. (quickly sits up and leans across desk with stern glare) But you are out of your league here. I will kick your ass all the way back to Chicago where you can watch you sorry Bears play that girly version of football.

(James looks to his right at Ms. Chatter. Then turns to look over his left shoulder.)

James: You… You… You’re talking to me? (leans on desk) Let me get this right. You’re talking to me?

Pr. Chavez: You’re the only tar baby in the room.

James: Man, I will beat yo…

Chatter: Gentlemen please.

Pr. Chavez: (pointing at Ms. Chatter) Stay in a woman’s place.

Meanwhile at the White House

Cheney: Do you think it was wise to send Mr. Manning to Venezuela? He’s rather uncontrollable.

Bush: He is, but that is why I sent Ms. Chatter along with him. I figure a Christian mother from Missouri would keep him level.

Cheney: That may be true but you do know Ms. Chatter spent some time in Chicago.

Bush: (with worried look on his face) I didn’t know that. Oh man, get them the hell out of there.

Back in President Chavez’s office.

Chatter (Standing on the desk, mercilessly slapping Pr. Chavez in the back of his head with her heels): I know the hell you didn’t. I'll knock out whatever sense you got left. Don't you ever (kick Pr. Chavez in the chin) think you can (elbows Pr. Chavez in the ear) talk to me (puts him in a choke hold) like that.

James (laughing): Whoop his ass, Chatter. Beat his motha... (blood from Pr. Chavez's nose spashes on shirt) Oh damn! You broke nose. You go girl!

(Ms. Chatter knees Pr. Chavez in the mouth the strikes him with a left jab. Pr. Chavez jumps up and runs towards the window)

Pr. Chavez: Get the hell out of my office you crazy broad and take your monkey with you.

James (jumps from chair): That’s your ass. (Hurdles desk and punches Pr. Chavez in the stomach)

(James kick Pr. Chavez in the back while Ms. Chatter jabs him in the neck with a chair. Pr. Chavez’s security team hears the commotion and enters the office.)

Scene on Air Force One on return flight to states

Ms. Chatter: This is your damn fault. You had to go and ask about some royalties. How are we going to explain this?

James: I really don’t give damn. I got my royalty check. Well, I owe you because he only wrote the check after I promised I’d make you pull that flagpole out of his butt. How the hell did you get it up that far?

Ms. Chatter: Will you get off of that. We have to explain this to the President.

James: C’mon Chatter. Admit it. When you elbowed Chavez in his ear and he went down crying like a baby… that felt good didn’t it?

Ms. Chatter: Well… Um… (shows a big smile) Hell yeah it felt good. I knocked him the hell out. Whew… I still got it, baby. (Give James a high five)

James: That’s what I’m talking ‘bout. Don’t mess with Chatter! I knew it was on when he told you to stay in your place. I thought we were going to have to call an excavation team to get that heel out of his temple.

(James and Ms. Chatter pop open a bottle of Hennessy and make a toast. Just then, a call comes in from the White House)

Ms. Chatter: Oh shoot. How do we explain this?

James: Hell, I got my money.

(Ms. Chatter answers phone)

Ms. Chatter: Hello Mr. President

Bush: What the hell happened down there? I got the press all over me.

Ms. Chatter: I’m sorry Mr. President. President Chavez was not very cooperative with us. We didn’t leave on very good terms.

Bush: Dammit. “Not very good terms” is an understatement. Mr. Manning, what are you not telling me?

James: Well… Well… I may have inadvertently declared war on his country.

Bush: What the …

James: Don’t worry, sir. Just give me a helicopter and let me call my boys from Troop 44 and we’ll go down and handle it.

Bush: I can’t believe you went down… (phone rings in background) Ho… hold on… let me get that.

(Bush voice is heard in the background. A few minutes pass and he hangs up the phone and returns to the conversation)

Bush: Ok, that was one of Pr. Chavez’s representative. He’s issuing a full apology in the morning. Good job team.

Ms. Chatter: Thank you, sir.

James: I'm glad you…

Bush: Shut up jerk. You’re fired.

James: What!

Bush: Wait (papers shuffle in background) I just got a memo here stating that Tim Russert wants to interview you on Meet the Press. If that goes well Mr. Manning, you’ll have a permanent position in my Administration.

James: Thanks.

Bush: Good night.

(hangs up phone)

Ms. Chatter: Well, that’s good. You should get along with Tim considering he’s a part of the Liberal media and all. (Notices worried look on James’ face) What’s wrong?

James: Well, I don’t exactly get along with Tim. We got into it at a Polka festival three years ago and...

Ms. Chatter: Oh man!!

(Tune in next time when James meets Tim Russert face to face since their last encounter at a Polka Festival. It will be a Meet the Press moment to remember)

THE END

posted by James Manning

Chavez and the UN

Hugo Chavez calls our President the Devil on U.S. soil. As many of us have pointed out, how much of this crap do we have to put up with on our own soil? I loved John Bolton's awesome response though:

"Chavez had the right to express his opinion, adding it was "too bad the people of Venezuela don't have free speech."

And let us take a look at this psycho dictator who calls W the devil. Mike has an awesome post on this and makes these points about Chavez:

"Beatings and REAL torture of political opponents, firings from state jobs, restricting freedom of the press, freedom of opposition parties and stacking the courts."

He also links to the Human Rights Watch page on Venezuela.

Rush also made a good point that the only thing he does agree with Chavez on is that the UN should get out of the U.S. And to that I would have to wholeheartedly agree. Ron pointed out that maybe Antartica might be a good location!!


All of this has inspired me to finally join "Screw the UN" and



"Blogging for Bolton". If you want to get me on a soapbox where I would go on forever ask me what I think of the UN. It is a corrupt, worthless, anti-Semitic, anti-American organization.

Toon Credit: Chuck Asay

In the past decade alone they have completely failed on doing the one job I think they were meant for. They stood by and did nothing during the Genocide in Rwanda and now they stand by and do nothing while there is Genocide in Darfur. Oh, wait, I forgot they are passing resolutions. I'm sure that brings comfort to those who are dieing in Darfur.

9/11 Tribute To Christina De Laura

When I signed up for the 2,996 bloggers tribute I was a little disappointed. There is very little information known about the lady's name I received. Literally all that is known about her is that she is Colombian and that she went missing from the World Trade Center. No one knows her age, her job, nothing, and there is no picture of her. I find it hard to believe that there was no way to locate information on her. It seems like relatives in Columbia would've come forward with some info but I wasn't able to locate any. It appears that her husband Oscar also went missing from the WTC but there is no information known about him either.


Nevertheless I write this post in honor of her memory. May we never forget the precious lives that were lost that day. And may we not forget why the War on Terror is so important. On this 5 year anniversary we must not forget the stakes. And on this 5th anniversary we can be thankful that we haven't had any further terrorist attacks on our soil. We can thank the great leadership of President Bush in part for that.


I will never forget how I felt that day and how personal it was to me. I remember everything I did and how I found out. By the time I found out we knew about all the planes and I just started crying. I was dropping my daughter off at pre-school when the towers collapsed. It took awhile for it all to sink in what had happened and what we had lost. The leadership of Bush & Giuliani meant a lot to me that day and was very comforting. I mourned the loss of Barbara Olson that day having seen her on Fox News and her funeral that weekend was especially moving. Mike has done a bunch of neat tributes to 9/11 and he has an extremely moving flash presentation that is a must see. Suzie also recounts her personal journey on that day in, Reflecting back on September 11th 2001.


I have been focusing on 9/11 a lot in the recent weeks because I think it is important that we never forget. I celebrate my 1 yr. blogging anniversary this month and I remember my 3rd post was about how disappointed I was in how little was said about 9/11. I'm thankful that isn't the case on the 5th anniversary.

I will be talking more about it this week since I need to do a review of the book I'm reading on it entitled, 102 Minutes. I also will be doing a review of the controversial docudrama The Path to 9/11.

Here are some of my recent posts on 9/11 & also links to fellow bloggers that have also done 9/11 tributes. Wordsmith especially did a personal one that was very moving:

The Path to 9/11--Must See TV!!
The Path to 9/11 Update
The Importance of Remembering 9/11
World Trade Center
United 93


Wordsmith's--In Honor of David Reed Gamboa-Brandhorst
Patrick's--Tribute to Lee Charles Ludwig
Gayle's-- 9/ll Blogburst Tribute to Mr. Anil T. Bharvaney
Neo-Con Tastic--A Tribute to Robert E. Russell
Anna's-- I Remember Louis F. Aversano Jr
Skye's--Skye remembers Marcello Matricciano, 31, WTC
Monica's--I Remember James M. Roux
JimmyB's--Sarah Khan - A Tribute
Mike--Deborah Kaplan
Chas-- 2,996 Tribute to Lorraine D. Antigua
Rob's-- 2996 Tribute to Capt. Daniel Brethel - died September 11, 2001
Bushwack's--A tribute to a life lost on 9-11
Juanita's--Felicia Traylor-Bass
Point Five--9/11 Remembrance: Christina Donovan Flannery
Rebekah's--Brian Novotny

I Got To Meet President George W. Bush

The President of the United States came to Kansas City today and I got to meet him. I can't begin to tell you what a dream come true this was for me. I got the call 2 weeks ago that I was going to get to meet him and have my picture taken with him. I have been a cross between ecstatic and a nervous wreck ever since. There was the possibility that his plans could get changed or that I wouldn't pass the security check ;-) but otherwise it was supposed to happen. I thought of that line on the movie "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" where Sarah Jessica Parker says "Things are going too well for me, I bet I get hit by a bus." One of my first thoughts was what do you wear to meet the president?

When I got the call I was in shock. I had worked my tail off volunteering for his campaign in 2004 but I figured the time had passed for me to be able to meet him. I had seen that Bush was coming to a special $1,000 dinner for Talent but since I didn't have $1,000 I figured the point was moot. And then I got the call.

There were 12 of us volunteers who got to be on the tarmac waiting for Air Force One to arrive today. It was so awesome to see the motorcade pull in and then to see Air Force One land. I almost had tears in my eyes as I saw him come to the door and begin to descend down the steps.

I had 3 things I wanted to say to him and I was able to get them all said. I let him know what a huge honor it was to meet him, I told him I was praying for him and that I was proud of how he was protecting our country in the war on terror. When I told him I was praying for him he said it was working!!! My only regret was I was talking to him when they snapped the picture instead of me turning towards the camera. Although how appropriate is that, Little Miss Chatterbox is talking to the President while getting her picture taken :-)!

I didn't bring my camera with me because I wasn't sure we would be able take pictures. We weren't allowed to of the president since we were getting the White House pics but we could take them of Air Force One. So a sweet College Republican guy took a picture of me in front of Air Force One and said he would email it to me. So I will post both pics as soon as I have them. We also got to meet Karl Rove who hung out for a couple of minutes at the end.

It was funny because a friend of mine's husband works for an NBC affiliate and saw me on the raw footage. He called my friend right after seeing me and said, "By any chance (uhm) was Dionne on the tarmac today with (uhm)the President?" My friend reminded him that she had told him about it but he didn't realize that I was actually going to be on the tarmac.

I figure even my resident liberals James and Kirk will be happy for me despite their feelings about the president. And to any other libs nasty comments on this post about the President will not be tolerated, wait until another post to bash him in the comments, this is a happy post only :-).

The KC Star not surprisingly only published a short article about the President's visit in the B section of the paper: Bush to Visit KC today for Talent fundraiser. I would hope he would make the front page tomorrow since the press was at the tarmac in full force. Ofcourse that will give them an opportunity to talk about the protestors like the KC Star's blog did today.

Nevertheless it was an awesome day and irreplacable memories were made!!

UPDATE:
Saturday the KC Star did put Bush on the front page along with 2 of the people that got to meet him. They also had a picture of the guy who was standing right next to me. The article was entitled: Bush Zips in for feel-good Visit. Ofcourse they had to highlight the protestors and show a picture of them also but overall it was a pretty comprehensive article about him being in KC.

Also, my friend's husband who works at NBC was able to get the footage of Bush getting off of Air Force One and greeting all of us. You can't see a lot but enough that it was great that I have it on DVD. You can see me talking to him and I did get to see that I actually did turn towards the camera so that made me feel better :-). My friend is trying to find a way for me to put the footage on You tube so I can post it on my blog.

Why President Bush & Tony Snow Rock

"For al Qaeda, Iraq is not a distraction from their war on America -- it is the central battlefield where the outcome of this struggle will be decided."

"History teaches that underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake."

"These radicals have declared their uncompromising hostility to freedom. It is foolish to think that you can negotiate with them."

"...the enemy has a propaganda strategy."

"America will not bow down to tyrants."

"Bin Laden and his terrorist allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them. The question is: Will we listen? Will we pay attention to what these evil men say? America and our coalition partners have made our choice. We're taking the words of the enemy seriously. We're on the offensive, and we will not rest, we will not retreat, and we will not withdraw from the fight, until this threat to civilization has been removed."
--President George W. Bush

The President gave an awesome speech yesterday. Read the whole speech here. Below are some great excerpts:

"Five years after our nation was attacked, the terrorist danger remains. We're a nation at war -- and America and her allies are fighting this war with relentless determination across the world. Together with our coalition partners, we've removed terrorist sanctuaries, disrupted their finances, killed and captured key operatives, broken up terrorist cells in America and other nations, and stopped new attacks before they're carried out. We're on the offense against the terrorists on every battlefront -- and we'll accept nothing less than complete victory. (Applause.)

The terrorists who attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, are men without conscience -- but they're not madmen. They kill in the name of a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs that are evil, but not insane. These al Qaeda terrorists and those who share their ideology are violent Sunni extremists. They're driven by a radical and perverted vision of Islam that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women and children in the pursuit of political power. They hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they call a "Caliphate" -- where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology. Osama bin Laden has called the 9/11 attacks -- in his words -- "a great step towards the unity of Muslims and establishing the Righteous… [Caliphate]."

This caliphate would be a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current and former Muslim lands, stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. We know this because al Qaeda has told us. About two months ago, the terrorist Zawahiri -- he's al Qaeda's second in command -- declared that al Qaeda intends to impose its rule in "every land that was a home for Islam, from [Spain] to Iraq. He went on to say, "The whole world is an open field for us."

We know what this radical empire would look like in practice, because we saw how the radicals imposed their ideology on the people of Afghanistan. Under the rule of the Taliban and al Qaeda, Afghanistan was a totalitarian nightmare -- a land where women were imprisoned in their homes, men were beaten for missing prayer meetings, girls could not go to school, and children were forbidden the smallest pleasures like flying kites. Religious police roamed the streets, beating and detaining civilians for perceived offenses. Women were publicly whipped. Summary executions were held in Kabul's soccer stadium in front of cheering mobs. And Afghanistan was turned into a launching pad for horrific attacks against America and other parts of the civilized world -- including many Muslim nations.

The goal of these Sunni extremists is to remake the entire Muslim world in their radical image. In pursuit of their imperial aims, these extremists say there can be no compromise or dialogue with those they call "infidels" -- a category that includes America, the world's free nations, Jews, and all Muslims who reject their extreme vision of Islam. They reject the possibility of peaceful coexistence with the free world. Again, hear the words of Osama bin Laden earlier this year: "Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us."

These radicals have declared their uncompromising hostility to freedom. It is foolish to think that you can negotiate with them. (Applause.) We see the uncompromising nature of the enemy in many captured terrorist documents. Here are just two examples: After the liberation of Afghanistan, coalition forces searching through a terrorist safe house in that country found a copy of the al Qaeda charter. This charter states that "there will be continuing enmity until everyone believes in Allah. We will not meet [the enemy] halfway. There will be no room for dialogue with them." Another document was found in 2000 by British police during an anti-terrorist raid in London -- a grisly al Qaeda manual that includes chapters with titles such as "Guidelines for Beating and Killing Hostages." This manual declares that their vision of Islam "does not… make a truce with unbelief, but rather confronts it." The confrontation… calls for… the dialogue of bullets, the ideals of assassination, bombing, and destruction, and the diplomacy of the cannon and machine gun."

Secondly, along with this campaign of terror, the enemy has a propaganda strategy. Osama bin Laden laid out this strategy in a letter to the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, that coalition forces uncovered in Afghanistan in 2002. In it, bin Laden says that al Qaeda intends to "[launch]," in his words, "a media campaign… to create a wedge between the American people and their government." This media campaign, bin Laden says, will send the American people a number of messages, including "that their government [will] bring them more losses, in finances and casualties." And he goes on to say that "they are being sacrificed… to serve… the big investors, especially the Jews." Bin Laden says that by delivering these messages, al Qaeda "aims at creating pressure from the American people on the American government to stop their campaign against Afghanistan."

Now, I know some of our country hear the terrorists' words, and hope that they will not, or cannot, do what they say. History teaches that underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake. In the early 1900s, an exiled lawyer in Europe published a pamphlet called "What Is To Be Done?" -- in which he laid out his plan to launch a communist revolution in Russia. The world did not heed Lenin's words, and paid a terrible price. The Soviet Empire he established killed tens of millions, and brought the world to the brink of thermonuclear war. In the 1920s, a failed Austrian painter published a book in which he explained his intention to build an Aryan super-state in Germany and take revenge on Europe and eradicate the Jews. The world ignored Hitler's words, and paid a terrible price. His Nazi regime killed millions in the gas chambers, and set the world aflame in war, before it was finally defeated at a terrible cost in lives.

Bin Laden and his terrorist allies have made their intentions as clear as Lenin and Hitler before them. The question is: Will we listen? Will we pay attention to what these evil men say? America and our coalition partners have made our choice. We're taking the words of the enemy seriously. We're on the offensive, and we will not rest, we will not retreat, and we will not withdraw from the fight, until this threat to civilization has been removed. (Applause.)

Imagine a world in which they were able to control governments, a world awash with oil and they would use oil resources to punish industrialized nations. And they would use those resources to fuel their radical agenda, and pursue and purchase weapons of mass murder. And armed with nuclear weapons, they would blackmail the free world, and spread their ideologies of hate, and raise a mortal threat to the American people. If we allow them to do this, if we retreat from Iraq, if we don't uphold our duty to support those who are desirous to live in liberty, 50 years from now history will look back on our time with unforgiving clarity, and demand to know why we did not act.

I'm not going to allow this to happen -- and no future American President can allow it either. America did not seek this global struggle, but we're answering history's call with confidence and a clear strategy. Today we're releasing a document called the "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism." This is an unclassified version of the strategy we've been pursuing since September the 11th, 2001. This strategy was first released in February 2003; it's been updated to take into account the changing nature of this enemy. This strategy document is posted on the White House website -- whitehouse.gov. And I urge all Americans to read it.

And now, freedom is once again contending with the forces of darkness and tyranny. This time, the battle is unfolding in a new region -- the broader Middle East. This time, we're not waiting for our enemies to gather in strength. This time, we're confronting them before they gain the capacity to inflict unspeakable damage on the world, and we're confronting their hateful ideology before it fully takes root.

We see a day when people across the Middle East have governments that honor their dignity, and unleash their creativity, and count their votes. We see a day when across this region citizens are allowed to express themselves freely, women have full rights, and children are educated and given the tools necessary to succeed in life. And we see a day when all the nations of the Middle East are allies in the cause of peace.

We fight for this day, because the security of our own citizens depends on it. This is the great ideological struggle of the 21st century -- and it is the calling of our generation. All civilized nations are bound together in this struggle between moderation and extremism. By coming together, we will roll back this grave threat to our way of life. We will help the people of the Middle East claim their freedom, and we will leave a safer and more hopeful world for our children and grandchildren."

And what was the Democrats' strategy again for fighting the War on Terror? In their own words, "Engage people more!" I guess that includes foolishly thinking they can negotiate with radicals and aiding the enemy in their propaganda strategy.


Tony Snow also gave some remarks yesterday during the press conference and he got into a little tussle with David Gregory. As I've pointed out before David Gregory likes getting attention during press conferences even if its negative attention. And apparently this time he didn't like being called on spouting Democratic talking points by Tony Snow. Editor & Publisher describe some of the exchange in this excerpt:

A not especially eventful press briefing at the White House today turned rancorous with NBC's David Gregory telling Press Secretary Tony Snow, "Don't point your finger at me," and Snow accusing the newsman of being "rude" and delivering Democratic talking points.

Earlier, speaking to reporters, Snow, continuing the administration's media focus on the war on terror, accused "some in the Democratic Party" of saying "we shouldn't fight the war" and "we shouldn't apprehend al-Qaeda" or even "question al-Qaeda."

Snow got into a tussle with Gregory after the NBC journalist told him, in a lengthy remark, that the public may wonder why the president's statement and report today on the war on terror did not admit more failings on the administration's part. Snow observed that he had nicely summarized "the Democratic point of view," and Gregory took exception to this.

You have just have to love this. Do you not remember my excitement over Tony Snow being the new press secretary? He has yet to disappoint me and has even exceeded my expectations. You go Tony!!

Also, Tony gave some remarks during the press conference. Here is an excerpt of his excellent comments: (He seems to be backing up points made by Ann Coulter and reiterated by me, and its great to see.)

"There have been some in the Democratic Party who have argued against the Patriot Act, against the terror surveillance program, against Guantanamo. In other words, there are some people who say that we shouldn't fight the war, we should not detain -- we shouldn't apprehend al Qaeda, we shouldn't detain al Qaeda, we shouldn't question al Qaeda, and we shouldn't listen to al Qaeda. In other words, they're all for winning the war on terror, but they're all against -- they're against providing the tools for winning that war.

"And we think it's a perfect opportunity for Democratic leaders to say, no, we are serious about winning the war. We have now reiterated some of the basic precepts of administration policy and also the policy put together by generals over the months of the engagement in Iraq. And we look forward to working with members of Congress to figure out how best to prevent terrorists from coming here, but, more importantly, how to defeat terrorism.

"Finally, one other point, which is, there is a reiteration of a call to replace or have Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stand down. The President strongly supports the Defense Secretary. It's not going to happen. Creating Don Rumsfeld as a boogeyman may make for good politics, but would make for a lousy strategy at this time. And, furthermore, if you listen to the speech that Secretary Rumsfeld gave last week, it was not only thoughtful, but comprehensive about trying to frame the ongoing war against terror, and also the war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"So this, again, is something that the President would love to see members of both Houses of Congress returning to that sense of cooperation we had after September 11th, where the real goal was not to try to hand out pink slips at the Pentagon, but instead to win the war on terror in a way that is going to make not only America safer, but also the rest of the world safer so that democracy can take firm root throughout the globe."