You Go W!!

Bush has had a fire in his belly lately and it is great to see. This is just an excerpt of what he had to say about House Democrats yesterday:

...Congress is not getting its work done. We're near the end of the year, and there really isn't much to show for it. The House of Representatives has wasted valuable time on a constant stream of investigations, and the Senate has wasted valuable time on an endless series of failed votes to pull our troops out of Iraq. And yet there's important work to be done on behalf of the American people.

They have not been able to send a single annual appropriations bill to my desk, and that's the worst record for a Congress in 20 years.

--The Whole Transcript
--The Video

In all fairness I urged my fellow citizens back in 2006 not to put the Dems in power, if only more had listened. Hopefully, many will have learned their lesson and vote differently in 2008. Kristol points out how that could be a very likely scenario.

Also blogging:
Mike's America
Chickenhawk Express
Marie's Two Cents

Bush and Presidential Nominees Coming to KC for VFW

President Bush, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are all coming to KC next week. They are coming for the six-day national VFW convention that will be held at Bartle Hall. It will run from August 18th to the 23rd. President Bush's date to speak is still to be announced but Hillary Clinton and John McCain will speak on August 20th and Fred Thompson and Obama will speak on August 21st. I will be out of town but it wouldn't have mattered since the convention won't be open to the public.

Also, speaking will be my Governor Matt Blunt and our new KC Mayor, Mark Funkhouser.

The VFW last met in KC in 1999 when Bill Clinton was President. Before that it goes all the way back to 1931 when Harry Truman was a judge and was the general chairman of the convention.

The VFW makes up an important voting block since 91% of veterans vote in presidential elections and when you combine them with their families they make up approximately 75 million Americans.

The VFW members will also get free tours of our World War I Museum which is the nation's only World War I Memorial and Museum.

Source:
KC Star--Bush and presidential wannabes to address VFW convention at Bartle Hall

The President on American Idol

President George W. Bush and Laura were on American Idol last night!! They were thanking Americans for how much money was raised for charity. I loved Laura's line :-).

"I don't know darling, they've already seen you dance."

You Go Bush #2!!

"To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible" - President George W. Bush January 13, 2006

I love this man!! This video demonstrates exactly why I love and support this President. Keep it up W!!

Cowards in the House of Representatives voted today to surrender in Iraq. This video shows Bush's response and here is an excerpt of some of his words:

"The purpose of the emergency war spending bill I requested was to provide our troops with vital funding. Instead, Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater, voted to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders on the ground in Iraq. They set rigid restrictions that will require an army of lawyers to interpret. They set an arbitrary date for withdrawal without regard for conditions on the ground. And they tacked on billions for pet projects that have nothing to do with winning the war on terror. This bill has too much pork, too many conditions and an artificial timetable for withdrawal.

As I have made clear for weeks, I will veto it if it comes to my desk. And because the vote in the House was so close, it is clear that my veto would be sustained. Today's action in the House does only one thing: it delays the delivering of vital resources for our troops. A narrow majority has decided to take this course, just as General Petraeus and his troops are carrying out a new strategy to help the Iraqis secure their capital city.

Amid the real challenges in Iraq, we're beginning to see some signs of progress. Yet, to score political points, the Democratic majority in the House has shown it is willing to undermine the gains our troops are making on the ground.

Democrats want to make clear that they oppose the war in Iraq. They have made their point. For some, that is not enough. These Democrats believe that the longer they can delay funding for our troops, the more likely they are to force me to accept restrictions on our commanders, an artificial timetable for withdrawal, and their pet spending projects. This is not going to happen. Our men and women in uniform need these emergency war funds. The Secretary of Defense has warned that if Congress does not approve the emergency funding for our troops by April the 15th, our men and women in uniform will face significant disruptions, and so would their families.

The Democrats have sent their message, now it's time to send their money. This is an important moment -- a decision for the new leaders in Congress. Our men in women in uniform should not have to worry that politicians in Washington will deny them the funds and the flexibility they need to win. Congress needs to send me a clean bill that I can sign without delay. I expect Congress to do its duty and to fund our troops, and so do the American people -- and so do the good men and women standing with me here today."

Others blogging:
Flopping Aces
Chickenhawk Express
The Astute Bloggers
Mike's America
Gateway Pundit

You Go Bush!!!

I was so proud of Bush yesterday. This is the side that conservatives like me wish we would see more often. Here are some great excerpts from the Press Conference:

"Earlier today, my staff met with congressional leaders about the resignations of U.S. attorneys. As you know, I have broad discretion to replace political appointees throughout the government, including U.S. attorneys. And in this case, I appointed these U.S. attorneys and they served four-year terms.

The initial response by Democrats, unfortunately, shows some appear more interested in scoring political points than in learning the facts. It will be regrettable if they choose to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials when I have agreed to make key White House officials and documents available. I have proposed a reasonable way to avoid an impasse. I hope they don't choose confrontation. I will oppose any attempts to subpoena White House officials.

As we cut through all the partisan rhetoric, it's important to maintain perspective on a couple of important points. First, it was natural and appropriate for members of the White House staff to consider and to discuss with the Justice Department whether to replace all 93 U.S. attorneys at the beginning of my second term. The start of a second term is a natural time to discuss the status of political appointees within the White House and with relevant agencies, including the Justice Department. In this case, the idea was rejected and was not pursued.

Second, it is common for me, members of my staff, and the Justice Department to receive complaints from members of Congress in both parties, and from other citizens. And we did hear complaints and concerns about U.S. attorneys. Some complained about the lack of vigorous prosecution of election fraud cases, while others had concerns about immigration cases not being prosecuted. These concerns are often shared between the White House and the Justice Department, and that is completely appropriate.

I also want to say something to the U.S. attorneys who resigned. I appreciate your service to the country. And while I strongly support the Attorney General's decision and am confident he acted appropriately, I regret these resignations turned into such a public spectacle.

It's now my hope that the United States Congress will act appropriately. My administration has made a very reasonable proposal. It's not too late for Democrats to drop the partisanship and work together. Democrats now have to choose whether they will waste time and provoke an unnecessary confrontation, or whether they will join us in working to do the people's business. There are too many important issues, from funding our troops to comprehensive immigration reform, to balancing the budget, for us to accomplish on behalf of the American people."

I thought I heard him saying something about the Democrats and a witch hunt but I couldn't find it. I liked that line because that is exactly what this is. I am beyond frustrated at how this has been completely blown out of proportion.

As usual Tom Delay is right!! He had this to say about it all:

Former House Republican Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday the scandal "is just a taste of what's goingt to be like for the next two years."

"And the Bush amdinistration sort of showed their weakenss when they got rid of Don Rumseld," the Texan said on NBC's "Today" show. "... This is a made up scandal. There is no evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever. ... They ought to be fighting back."

GG also has a good post with the perfect title, "Continuing the Hunt for Karl Rove".

Flags of our Fathers

I really wanted to see this movie in the theater but never made it. I just got it thru Netflix and was not disappointed. It is a very good movie although difficult to watch at times.


It paints a very realistic picture of how horrific the fight at Iwo Jima was for our soldiers. It reminded me of how D-day was portrayed on Saving Private Ryan. You are charging up the beach and men all around you are dropping. It is unfathomable!!


The movie also shows how difficult it was for the 3 surviving men from the famous Iwo Jima picture to cope with coming home and being regarded as a hero. I don't think we ever think about what that would be like.

Seeing the movie also made me think about all the needless deaths that happened during that war. Hindsight is always 20/20 and looking back I'm sure there were things that could've been done to save lives. Yet, that is war. Wars are never planned perfectly or executed perfectly, war is hell! It showed me how unfair so many liberals are being in their criticism of our current war and of our president.

Wordsmith has been debating a liberal in the comments' section of one of my other posts. It is now up to 55 comments :-). Wordsmith made some excellent points that I thought were worth quoting here about the war & Bush:

WAR
1st comment

"Democracy, especially in the presence of an insurgency and those who are working actively to sabotage it every step of the way, takes time and effort and energy and sacrifice. It doesn't happen overnight, as much as we may wish it to. There is blood, there is dying, and there are setbacks amidst successes. It's hard work. It's difficult work. Now is not the time to lose one's resolve. Now is the time to do what's right and to do what needs doing, especially when things get tough and it looks like the darkest hour. What did you expect? For our enemies in Iraq to just roll over and play dead? For us to incur zero loss of life? Giving me the latest body count isn't an argument for invalidating this war. It's WAR. And people die. What would the cost in American and Iraqi lives have costed us, in the long run had Saddam remained in power? We will never really know.

We're there now. We're in this war. There's no excuse for not working toward victory. Defeat or a perceived defeat will not make America safer.
But how fair is it for civilians to armchair quarterback and micromanage this war, when we do not have all the facts available to us? Following the press releases is not sufficient to make educated, strategic decisions.

2nd Comment
So many things went wrong during the invasion of Normandy; so many lives that can be seen as avoidable losses. But that's the nature of hindsight. And it creates anguish in all of us- including our elected leaders who made the big decisions- to know that mistakes cost lives. But what's the solution? Fire the generals and Administration officials every time something goes wrong?

I understand you want leaders to be able to "adjust accordingly", and not stubbornly keep doing the same thing over and over again. But I think the situations and relationships are complex ones, and all we end up doing is armchair second-guessing. We are not there, sitting in the war-room, absorbing all the available intelligence and data.

"Stay the course" is a nice, silly little phrase, that unfortunately, has been political ammo for the critics. It shouldn't be. "Staying the course" doesn't mean you keep applying the same strategy when the war has evolved. It means, you have the intestinal fortitude to outlast the enemy, even when the going gets tough. Throughout the past 3 years, we have adapted and changed tactics; as has the enemy.

Now, that being said, some decisions in hindsight should have probably been made sooner (such as more troops) that weren't. But, again, this is the advantage of 20/20 hindsight.

BUSH
I see President Bush as someone who will go down as one of our nation's strongest leaders, precisely because he has faced so much opposition; that against the odds, I think he will emerge as having been right, and made the big decisions, even when they weren't the popular decisions. Leaders cannot lead a nation, based upon the latest gallup polls. Bush is someone who thinks big, and has tackled head-on, some of the big challenges of our time. He is a mover and a shaker, and has affected the world as a risk-taker, for better or worse you may argue.

I think 9/11 transformed Bush into one of our nation's best; it jumpstarted his greatness to think big and to go long. The status quo was a slow kill for the world, as terrorists festered through the 90's, like a malignant cancer upon the world, largely ignored and left untreated. Reagan was much hated around the world; and there were demonstrations even before he swore the oath, as protestors thought it would be the end of the world."