LMC's Smorgasbord

I had some fun, light things to post so decided it was time for another smorgasbord. First of all I would like to apologize if I neglected anyone the past couple of days. My house had spun out of control and I couldn't ignore it anymore. So I spent the weekend getting my house into order. I couldn't tear myself completely away from the computer but I wasn't able to comment as much. But I'm glad I was finally motivated because it feels really good to finally have a clean house :-).

Lone Pony did one of those fun 4 things post so I decided since I hadn't done that yet I would include it here.

4 Things About Me

4 Jobs I've had:

1) Moody Cassette Ministry employee
2) Receptionist
3) Nanny
4) Homeschool Mother

4 Movies I can watch over & over: (This list could be long :-))

1) Braveheart (Ofcourse)
2) A Walk To Remember
3) Any of Jane Austen's movies
4) Legally Blonde (I know what some of you are thinking but this is a great movie. It is one of those feel good, empowering movies. Nobody thinks she can become a lawyer and she is determined to prove them all wrong and she does.)

4 Places I've liked (in the U.S.):

1) Florida
2) Oklahoma
3) Colorado
4) Texas

4 (favorite)Places I've vacationed:

1) Puerto Rico (on a Missions trip)
2) Monterrey, Mexico (also on a Missions trip)
3) Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
4) Florida

4 TV shows I love:

1) Alias
2) 24
3) Little House on the Prairie
4) Seinfeld

4 of my favorite dishes:

1) Steak
2) Fried Chicken
3) Hamburger & fries
4) Spaghetti & breadsticks

4 Places I would rather be right now:

1) Florida
2) Hawaii
3) Texas
4) Anywhere in the Southwest :-)

5 sites I visit daily (among many others)(sorry had to do 5 on this one):

1) Revka's Take
2) Bloviating Zeppelin
3) Suzie's Blog
4) Lone Pony
5) Grey Ghost

I will be nice and not tag anyone but feel free to do this because I would love to read everyone's.

Also, I found 2 comedy clips that are hilarious. The first one is Will Ferrell from SNL pretending to be George W. Bush. He does such a good job. I laughed so hard at this I had tears coming out of my eyes. It is called Bush Calls Out Bin Laden.

The second one I need to issue a Strong Warning. It has a lot of language so for my younger readers and if you don't want to hear it don't go there. But I had to link to it because it's funny. It is Dave Chappelle showing us what a Black Bush would be like.


And another Glenn McCoy cartoon for your enjoyment.

Why I Love Ronald Reagan--Part 3

This is my 3rd and final post on Ronald Reagan. I hope you have been as inspired by his life as I have been to learn and be a better person as a result. I feel a kinship with him when it comes to faith, convictions, belief in freedom and his heart. When it comes to his humor and optimism I aspire to be more like him. I was encouraged during the Alito hearings that for the most part I was able to laugh at the democrats instead of getting mad. In the future I hope to be able to beat my critics at their own game with humor like Reagan did.

Reagan was by no means perfect since none of us are. It was actually encouraging to see that he was human. In my opinion his biggest failure was in his role as Dad. I think most of it was a generational thing and that he just didn't know how to be a great dad. His own father had been an alcoholic. But one only needs to look at Ron Jr. and the way he carries himself (like he has a chip on his shoulder) to see that Reagan was not able to translate some of his powerful lessons to his own kids. And thus we see he was only human. Now back to the positive stuff :-).


His Convictions: One of the most inspiring things to me is a person with convictions who doesn't compromise on their core principles. This is the essence of Ronald Reagan. He didn't care if he was criticized for something he believed in. If he believed in it he did it no matter what the polls said. Gary Bauer recounted a story of giving one of his first presentations to Reagan and started it off by quoting a poll. Reagan immediately cut him off and said don't ever quote polls as your reason for wanting me to do something.

Reagan refused to give into Gorbachev's early deals even though he was pressured by many to do so. If he hadn't stuck to his convictions the cold war may still be going on today and the Berlin Wall might never have come down.

One of my very favorite stories is one that Bill Bennett likes to tell because it involves him. Bennett was the Secretary of Education in Reagan's administration and right from the start he became controversial because he was blunt in how he presented his views. He had been getting a lot of bad press and was under a tremendous amount of heat for things he had said. There were even papers calling for his resignation. When the next cabinet meeting came Bennett was very nervous and even felt that the others in the meeting were distancing themselves from him. Here is Peggy Noonan quoting Bennett's account of what happened:

"And we finally got to the last item: Bennett. And the president--I was pretty isolated at this point, and the president started to read aloud just the headlines. 'BENNETT, A DUNCE IN THE CLASSROOM,' 'BENNETT, THE JAMES WATT OF THE SECOND TERM,' 'BENNETT MUST BE FIRED.'

"And I was sinking farther and farther in my seat as the president read aloud. And my colleagues were drawing farther away. Reagan put the last clipping in and folded it up, and he said, 'Now, that's Bill Bennett's first three weeks in office. What's wrong with the rest of you?'

"It was a great moment--it was an exhale moment, too .... But it was also one of the kindest and most considerate things anybody ever did for me .... It was a moment I'll never forget, and it taught me what a leader can do, and what it can mean to the morale of people to have done that."

When the meeting was over, Bennett went to the president and said, "Boss, thank you. Thank you very, very much."

And Reagan told him, "You know, they like to criticize me for being in show business. But one thing you learn in show business, there's a difference between the critics and the box office. Don't worry about the critics; just keep doing your job."

Bennett later summed up Reagan this way: "He was a man in possession of his own soul."

Reagan didn't care that Bennett was getting attacked and how that would reflect on his administration. He didn't ask him to tone things down because he agreed with Bennett and knew he was doing the right thing. So Bennett was unpopular with the papers, Reagan didn't care because they were doing what was right.

His faith: Reagan was a great man of faith. He admitted that he wouldn't have gotten through his presidency without the help of prayer. "I've prayed a lot throughout my life. Abraham Lincoln once said that he could never have fulfilled his duties as president for even fifteen minutes without God's help. I felt the same way."


Mike called Margaret Thatcher Reagan's "conservative soulmate" and I couldn't think of a better way to describe their relationship. I am posting this picture and a quote of hers from his funeral to set up my last topic. "We have lost a great president, a great American, and a great man. And I have lost a dear friend." Margaret Thatcher was Reagan's soulmate when it came to their belief in freedom.


His belief in freedom: Peggy Noonan said that Reagan's foreign policy could be boiled down to 3 words: "Peace through strength." That sounds a lot like Teddy Roosevelt's famous saying of "Speak softly and carry a big stick." If you show strength and resolve and that you mean what you say you sometimes avoid war. My husband and I were talking about how the Iranian hostages were released the day Reagan took office. I never knew what to make of that and then my husband made an awesome point. Iran knew that Reagan wouldn't be a weak appeaser like Jimmy Carter and that he would take action. So to avoid the inevitable confrontation they released the hostages. Reagan had already demonstrated his strength and it enabled him to avoid a conflict.

The Reagan doctrine was described like this: "Commitment to support 'those fighting for freedom and against communism wherever we found them.'"
Here are some quotes from his "Westminster Speech" that he made on June 8, 1982:

"It would be cultural condescension, or worse, to say that any people prefer dictatorship to democracy. Who would voluntarily choose not to have the right to vote, decide to purchase government propaganda handouts instead of independent newspapers, prefer government to worker-controlled unions, opt for land to be owned by the state instead of those who till it, want government repression of religious liberty, a single political party instead of a free choice, a rigid cultural orthodoxy instead of democratic tolerance and diversity?

...given strong leadership, time and a little bit of hope, the forces of good ultimately rally and triumph over evil.

I've often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world.

So, let us ask ourselves, ``What kind of people do we think we are?'' And let us answer, ``Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.''

For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny."

Here are some from his "Evil Empire Speech" that he made on March 8, 1983:

"At the same time, however, they must be made to understand we will never compromise our principles and standards. We will never give away our freedom. We will never abandon our belief in God. And we will never stop searching for a genuine peace.

But if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom."

And ofcourse Reagan's famous words: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

If only the democrats of today could see the great wisdom and truth of these words. As you can see by these quotes George W. Bush is truly Reagan's "Conservative Son". W carries Reagan's torch for freedom and he does it well. W isn't the "great communicator" like Reagan but he has the same heart and ideas which are making this world safer and freer.

And speaking of W it is fitting to conclude my series on Reagan with a quote from him. This is a little of what W had to say about Reagan: "Some achievements fade with the years. Ronald Reagan's achievements grow larger with the passing of time." Amen and Amen!!

Sources:
"When Character Was King" by Peggy Noonan
"Westminster Speech"

"Evil Empire Speech"

Why I Love Ronald Reagan--Part 2

I will always remember the day that Ronald Reagan died. I usually have Fox News on 24/7 because you never know when a "breaking news" story might happen and I wouldn't want to miss it :-). But on this saturday I had been gone all day. I came home and got on the computer and thats when I saw the headline. Tears started streaming down my face and I went to turn on the TV to watch the coverage. I cried off and on the whole week after his death as I watched the people who knew him tell their stories and as I witnessed his funeral. It hit me how much I had grown to love him through my odyssey of learning about him. I realized the world was losing a great man but his message would live on. Here is some of that message:


His Humor: Peggy Noonan said, "I think he thought everyone was too serious." Ronald Reagan was always known for his jokes and his ability to make people laugh. Its not that he wasn't a man of depth or that he didn't understand the seriousness of life. He had a lot of setbacks in his life. He just realized that nothing was accomplished by being a negative and unhappy person.

Two months into his presidency an assassination attempt was made on his life. He almost died and yet his response was that he forgot to duck and he hoped all the Doctors were Republicans.

The biggest and most impressive way he used humor was to deflect criticism from his critics. To me it is awe-inspiring. I'm trying to get better but when someone criticizes me my natural response is to get angry and lash back. But it is so much more effective to use humor and beat them at their own game. And thats one of the reasons why Reagan was so successful.

When he was continually attacked for being too old during his run for re-election he said this to Mondale in a debate, "I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." When reporters criticized him for not getting his facts straight he admitted in a speech that even though he was quoting George Washington he hadn't actually heard him say it. And according to Peggy Noonan one of his ways of dealing with criticism was, "not to get mad but to undermine his critics by agreeing with them. When they said he was lazy he didn't deny it, he said, 'I know hard work never killed anyone, but I figure why take a chance?'"

To me it takes a strong person to laugh at yourself and agree with your critics when you know what they are saying isn't true. To be above the fray and to use humor to do it takes a strong person. And Ronald Reagan was just that.


His Optimism: The more I live life the more I see how important it is to be optimistic. Ronald Reagan was known for being an optimist and everyone loves to spend time and be around an optimist. One of his favorite stories he loved to tell was about 2 boys. One was too optimistic and the other was too negative. In order to cure them they were each put in a different room. The negative one was put in a room full of brand-new toys. This didn't cure him and he started to cry because he was sure that somehow he would break all of them. The positive one was put into a room full of dung. The boy started happily jumping in and digging through the dung. When asked what he was doing he said that with all this dung there was sure to be a pony in there somewhere.

His optimism never let him give up. When he barely lost the Republican nomination in 1976 he gave a speech to his loyal, teary-eyed supporters. He said: "Don't give up your ideals. Don't compromise. Don't turn to expediency. And don't for heaven's sake, having seen the inner workings of the watch, don't get cynical." Think of what could've happened had Reagan given up or compromised. Ford may have won the nomination that year but it wasn't because he was a better person or had better ideas. Reagan was right in his message not to give up.


His heart: Michael W. Smith sang a song in the 80's that had Reagan's voice interspersed throughout it with his words that he spoke the day the Space Shuttle Challenger crashed. The words were always very comforting and inspiring to me. They showed his heart and that he cared. Here they are: "The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to touch the face of God."

Reagan was unfairly criticized for not caring about the homeless and the aids crisis and many other things. Like W the liberals would blame him for anything and everything. Reagan had charm and did well in front of the cameras but his concern for people wasn't a photo op like it was for Clinton. There are many stories of Reagan doing things for people and specifically making sure the cameras were turned off while he was doing it.

Peggy Noonan tells a story that shows his heart and that wasn't done for the cameras about a woman named Frances Green. She was an 83 yr. old lady that had very little money but gave small amounts to the Republican party because she loved Ronald Reagan. She was invited to the Whitehouse but needed to RSVP. She spent all she had to take a 4 day train trip to the Whitehouse. When she got there they wouldn't let her in because she hadn't rsvped. A Ford executive was in line behind her and heard her story. He talked to the right people and had it set up for her to meet the President the next day. But the next day some serious events were taking place and it looked like she would only get to take a tour. While she was taking the tour the Ford Executive passed by the Oval Office and Reagan urged them to come in.

This is what Noonan had to say about the encounter: "This," I said in the speech about Reagan's character, "is why Reagan is Reagan. He knows Mrs. Green is a little old lady all by herself in the world, she's no one, with nothing to give him, and Reagan is behind his desk and he rises and calls out, 'Frances!' He says, 'Those darn computers, they fouled up again! If I'd known you were coming I would have come out there to get you myself.'" He asked her to sit down and they talked about California and he gave her a lot of time, and if you say on a day like that it was time wasted, there are a lot of people who'd say, Oh no it wasn't. No it wasn't. He had a big heart, a kind of liquid heart that flowed out to others."

Stay tuned for the 3rd and final part tomorrow. It would've been too long to get it all in today. This has been a labor of love for me. I hope it is inspiring to others and please share any Reagan stories that you have in the comments.

Sources:
"When Character Was King" by Peggy Noonan
"How Ronald Reagan Changed my Life" by Peter Robinson
"Challenger Disaster" Speech

LMC's Smorgasbord

Too many things to talk about so time for another smorgasbord of good stuff. To sum up the first 4 hours of 24 I am still mourning President Palmer. If he was a Republican he would've been my choice for President in 2008 :-). But with his loss we have a personal cause for Jack to pursue so it does work well in the story. So all of us Palmer fans will just have to move on :-(. We also lost Michelle who was another one of my favorite characters so had to at least give them a final sendoff with some pictures. I would've picked different people to bump off but alas Joel Surnow didn't consult with me on who they were going to get rid of. If he had I would've highly recommended getting rid of the weasal President Logan and Edgar.

'24' Gets Huge Ratings "Fox's "24" - a favorite prime-time show for many conservatives - just pulled in its best ratings ever with its fifth-season premiere and the first of two back-to-back episodes. This season's first episode of "24" averaged 17 million viewers and a 7.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic. "24"'s second hour finished with 15.5 million viewers and a 6.7 in adults 18-49. These are phenomenal figures that speak volumes about what sort of entertainment post-9/11 Americans seem to prefer. Contrast this to the tepid response to George Clooney's "Syriana," with its anti-American message about the 'causes' of Islamic terrorism, and one begins to see that Americans are ready to watch entertainment that deals with our current War on Terror - but also that they're sensitive to the messages that entertainment contains. Will Hollywood learn this lesson? Perhaps. A good sign will be whether the Academy showers "Syriana" with nominations later this month ..."

And finally my favorite Jack Bauer line from the 1st 4 hours is, "The only reason you're still conscious is because I don't want to carry you." Classic!!

You Are a Chick Rocker!

You're living proof that chicks can rock You're inspired by Joan Jett and the Donnas And when you rock, you rock hard (Plus, you get all the cute guy groupies you want!)

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

I got a huge kick out of my results on this quiz. I found this over at EitherOrr. Let me know what kind of rocker you guys turned out to be. Awhile back Patrick did a post on Babes for Bush with conservative women pictures for the men. He then attempted to do the same for the ladies but it didn't quite work for me (no offense Patrick) I figured I'd take a stab at seeing what I could find :-). From Top to Bottom: 1) Sean Hannity (ofcourse) 2) Mel Gibson 3) Jim Caviezel 4) Bruce Willis 5) Our President W in the flightsuit I tried to do what Patrick did and post a picture of a Democrat man for contrast but no matter what I did my picture of Micheal Moore wouldn't post. I think it is a sign that my blog couldn't handle having his picture posted here :-). Finally on a more serious note check out Suzie's site to see about another psycho judge not protecting our kids.

LMC's Awards (I added a new cartoon)

And the Attention Whore award of the week goes tooo........ Hillary Clinton
for making a splash by accusing Republicans of running the House of Representatives like a Plantation.


(John Kerry with Tom Daschle :-))



Joke of the Week Award goes toooooo..... Tom Daschle for thinking he has a prayer at running for president. Uh, lets see, you get thrown out of the senate by the people from your own state but think you have a shot at the presidency. I think not.



Psycho Award of the week goes toooo.... Al Gore for ranting about Bush breaking the law by listening to terrorists' conversations. I still remember Ann Coulter talking to Alan Colmes on Hannity & Colmes one night. She was talking about how psycho Al had gotten and Alan says why do you always point to the extreme people from our party. Ann said, I wish you had told us that before you nominated him as your candidate for president :-).


Foot in Mouth Award of the week goes toooo...... Ray Nagin for his comments about "God being mad at America" and New Orleans becoming a "chocolate city" again.


And last but not least the Nauseating Politically Correct Movie of the Week award goes toooo....... "Brokeback Mountain" And I'd rather not post pictures.

Hat Tip to Bloviating Zeppelin for some of the links.

"Let Freedom Ring"

I had a neat day today homeschooling my kids. First of all we read a book about Martin Luther King, Jr. and talked about who he was and why he was so great.

Then we read his famous speech "I Have a Dream" that he gave on August 28, 1963. I was so inspired as I read it. I realized that one of the bonds that brings all people together is the yearning for freedom. William Wallace fought and died for it in Scotland, the Colonists fought and died for it so we could have the United States of America, the Civil War was fought in part so African Americans could be free and Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and many others fought and died so African Americans could achieve freedom and equality. We will fight and die for freedom. It is an inspiring cause!!
I remember the Elian Gonzalez controversy. Many people had different takes on what should happen to the little boy. His mother died bringing him to a country so he could be free. I couldn't fathom sending him back to the prison that would be his life in a communist country.

Martin Luther King's speech was about Freedom and dreams. It was and is an inspiring cause. We have not achieved perfection in this country but we have come a long way. For the most part men and women no matter their color or station in life are free to pursue the American Dream. So much so that we have an immigration problem of people wanting to flood into our country to experience this dream.

One of my very favorite stories of all time is Alex Haley's story of his family in his book "Roots". When I was in junior high my whole family stayed up late during the summer and watched the re-airing of the mini-series "Roots". I don't know what it was about that but it is still one of my favorite family memories. Because of that I sought it out on video once I was an adult. Since then I've watched both series many, many times. Then I read the book and found it to be easy reading even though it was a huge book.

I was fascinated by the story of his family and especially Kunta Kinte. Kunta never gave up on freedom. He was whipped, he had part of his foot caught off and he lost a lot but he knew what it was like to be free and he didn't give up on it. He passed that on to his children and they passed it on to their children after him and generations later Alex Haley was able to trace his roots and his family's fight for freedom.

The cause of Freedom is inspirational. As I write this George W. Bush's voice echoes in my head as I remember a speech he gave to the troops. He thanked them for their "sacrifice for the cause of peace and freedom". After eternal salvation there is no greater cause!!

Fun Stuff

24 was Awesome tonight!!(snagged the pic from Conservative UAW guy) I should be devastated because they killed off Palmer and Michelle but the episode was too good. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's two hours. Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention this on my previous post. Dave Barry, humorist and syndicated columnist, writes a blog and does a section specifically on 24. It is hilarious. If you are a fan of 24 you will really enjoy it--Dave Barry's 24 blog.

Thought I would post several fun quizzes (meme's) today. I like doing these way too much :-). The first one may only appeal to those of us who enjoyed the 80's but it was fun.




Take the Which Character Am I? Quiz



This next one is a Neocon quiz I got from Patrick's blog and this is for those of you who are more intellectual :-). I really enjoyed it. No shocker I turned out to be a neoconservative. It is also neat because each category tells you what historical figure and current figure you are like. A neoconservative is put in the same class with Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Very cool! Take the Neocon quiz.

This one I got from Rebekah's blog but Texas Fred posted it as well. From all the comments most people got green but some of us got red. It would be nice to see if someone could actually get a different color :-).

Your Blog Should Be Red

Your blog is full of intensity and passion. You are very opinionated - and people love or hate you for it. You have the potential to be both a famous and infamous blogger.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

And last this one (from Texas Fred) was interesting. I'm supposed to be Mexican food and I don't even eat Mexican except for Taco Bell which no one would consider real Mexican :-).

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Also, Peggy Noonan and Ann Coulter both had great columns this week. Check them out if you have a chance. Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. day!!!!!

Why I Love 24

I'm going to diverge a little from politics today and talk about the TV show 24. Although as always, politics is interwined. If you are a fan of the show you will relate and if you aren't, you need to be. Rush says he hardly watches any TV and he loves this show. He says he doesn't think liberals would like it and I would tend to agree. But my favorite liberal, James, is a fan of the show too which goes to show you it is popular across all demographics.


The show is about a place called CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit). Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is an agent who has run CTU before but is usually out in the field getting the bad guys. I highly recommend the show. The season starts this sunday night where they will have a special 2 hour episode followed by another 2 hour episode on monday night.


First of all it needs to be said I love 24 because Kiefer Sutherland is hot!! Yes, I am happily married but I'm also not blind :-). A lot of it is how Sutherland portrays the main character Jack Bauer. He protects his family and the country from terrorists and the bad guys at all costs.

He always does the right thing when it comes to justice (although that doesn't mean he always does things by the book :-)). He doesn't wait for warrants, he doesn't believe in political correctness and he kicks butt! No one gets past him. He is awesome!! The men that are like him in real life are the ones who keep our country safe. A guy from Blogs4Bauer said: "Jack Bauer is the hero that this nation desperately needs." And I agree!!

Second, I have loved the show because one of the other main characters is a black president named David Palmer. In the first 3 seasons he works hand in hand with Jack Bauer to save the country from the bad guys. He is portrayed as a man of integrity who almost always makes the right choices. Even though he is surrounded by people who are trying to pressure him to do the wrong thing. In season 4 although he is no longer the president he is called in to save the day and I cheered when they brought him back :-). If we could have a man like that in real life and he was a Republican I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

To sum it all up I love the show because justice prevails. You have flawed men and women who are dedicated to protecting our country and standing up for what is right. There are casualties along the way and they aren't perfect but they fight for a cause that is worth pursuing. That is the essence of what we hope that most of our men and women in public service are trying to do.

I have mentioned it before but make sure you check out the Blogs4Bauer site. It has been a lot of fun discussing the show before it has even started. Happy viewing!!

P.S. I snagged my quote of the week from Mark's blog.

Conservative Profile #2--Samuel Alito (Scalito)

As I write this I'm having to listen to Kennedy blather on in the confirmation hearings. This should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment. If we played hours of Kennedy blathering to the detainees at Gitmo maybe the libs would have a case for torture :-).

All that to say I was thinking that because Alito will be raked over the coals this week by Kennedy, Biden and others and personified as evil incarnate it might be nice to hear some good things about him. I decided a week or two ago that he would be a great person to pick for my second conservative profile.

He was born in April of 1950 in Trenton, New Jersey. He is Roman Catholic. He attended Princeton University and graduated from there as well as Yale Law School in the early 70's. In 1985 he married Martha-Ann Bomgardner and they have two kids, Philip and Laura. Below is a listing of his jobs that he has had throughout his career from Wikipedia:

1976 – 1977 — Law clerk for Leonard I. Garth of the Third Circuit.
1977 – 1981 — Assistant United States Attorney, District of New Jersey.
1981 – 1985 — Assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee.
1985 – 1987 — Deputy Assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese.
1987 – 1990 — United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
1990 – pres. — Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
1999 – 2004 — Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey

According to LexisNexis Judge Alito has written more than 700 opinions. He belongs to the Federalist Society. He has been nicknamed by some lawyers as "Scalito". The nickname seems to have originated in 1992 in the National Law Journal and a Philadelphia Journalist claims to have coined the nickname. The one notable difference between Alito and Scalia is he seems to lack Scalia's passion. And I would presume some would say that makes him possibly more even tempered. In my opinion that probably makes him a little less exciting but exciting is not a requirement for Supreme Court Justice :-).

He has had 15 years of experience as a Circuit Appeals Judge. I also want to point out that he was unanimously confirmed to that position in 1990. During those years he has proven to be a pretty solid conservative, a strict constructionist (one who interprets the law not tries to rewrite it). That is why most of us were excited when he was nominated. An article on Law.com entitled "The Mild Mannered Scalia" had this to say about cases that he ruled on:

"On the hot-button issues, Alito has been consistently conservative.

In ACLU v. Schundler, Alito wrote the majority opinion holding that a city's holiday display that included a créche and a menorah did not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment because it also included secular symbols such as Frosty the Snowman and a banner promoting racial diversity.

On abortion, Alito was the lone dissenter in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the 3rd Circuit struck down a Pennsylvania law that required women seeking abortions to inform their husbands.

Alito argued that the Pennsylvania law's restrictions should have been upheld.

"The Pennsylvania Legislature could have rationally believed," Alito wrote, "that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands' knowledge because of perceived problems -- such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands' previously expressed opposition -- that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion."

The case went on to the Supreme Court, resulting in a 6-3 decision that reaffirmed Roe v. Wade and struck down the spousal notification provision of the law. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, in his dissent, quoted Alito's underlying dissent and said he agreed with his reasoning."

Bill Kristol, Editor Of The Weekly Standard, had this to say:

"[In] April, ... I surveyed people that I respect in constitutional law, law professors, former law clerks who were lawyers, I said on the pure merits among those that the President would be inclined to pick, who would be the most distinguished, most intellectually serious and thoughtful appellate court judges and I would say in the top five consistently were Roberts and Alito." (Fox News' "Fox & Friends," 10/31/05)

The Almanac Of The Federal Judiciary Has Called Him “Brilliant” With An “Excellent Demeanor.”

Rush was saying today that Samuel Alito is a man of "intellectual firepower". The awesome thing is we have a lot of these on the right. And the problem for Kennedy, Biden and others is they don't have the intellectual firepower to go up against men like Alito. Instead of my blood pressure rising I actually found it amusing watching Kennedy try to come up with something good today. It looks like the votes are there and Alito will be confirmed. So the rest is big ego senators parading in front of the cameras actually thinking someone cares about what they have to say.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Official White House Biography
Law.com Biography
JudgeAlito.com

Dick Cheney in Leather

My local paper, The KC Star, is pretty liberal like most papers. But during the 2004 election season I got it for awhile so I would know what was going on locally. To my surprise, I liked getting the paper. I enjoyed knowing the local news and I started writing letters to the editor. But after the election I didn't want to pay full price so I stopped getting it. Recently they sent me an offer that I could get the paper every day for 6 months and only pay the sunday paper price. Since we buy the sunday paper every week for the ads, etc. anyway it was too good of a deal to pass up. All that to say my saturday paper had some good stuff in it.

First of all, Dick Cheney was here in Kansas City this week. He was at our Harley-Davidson plant. As you know I looooove Harleys so I thought this was very cool!! He was there to talk about the economy. Here are a couple of comments he made:

"He pointed to Labor Department reports released Friday that unemployment in December dipped to 4.9 percent, matching a 4 1/2-year low, and that the economy last month added 108,000 jobs.

“I’m a little hobbled up today,” Cheney said sitting down. “(Defense Secretary) Don Rumsfeld’s been chewing on my ankles.”

The vice president got his heartiest response from the factory crowd by paying tribute to the armed forces and by lauding the motorcycle maker for proving that U.S. manufacturers can compete in the international marketplace."

I loved his joke about Rumsfeld. When I heard him speak in 2004 I was surprised at how funny he was.


He also went to Fort Leavenworth and spoke to the troops. This picture shows him awarding Master Sgt. Edward Baldwin the Combat Action Badge.


Second, my wonderful Senator Kit Bond is off on a trip to the Middle East. The Star even mentioned that his son, Sam Bond, is a Marine Intelligence Officer serving in Iraq. So much for all the democrats' hoopla that members of Congress's children aren't serving.

Bush as Rambo and other stuff

Okay I saw this on someone else's blog and I knew I needed to have this picture. You gotta love it!!


Click on this to enlarge if you need too.
A friend of mine sent this to me in an email during the election season of 2004. I sooooooo loved it!! It is just such a classic for conservatives although I'm sure democrats wouldn't find it all that funny.

Joe Kovacs wrote a great article entitled "Funniest News Stories of 2005" in World Net Daily. Some of them I had heard but the funniest one I hadn't heard is below:

Potty humor

The year was flush with strange items, like the saga of Bob Dougherty, the Colorado man who sued Home Depot after "becoming one" with a men's room toilet on which some prankster had smeared glue.

Dougherty hollared for help, but the store's clerk reportedly deemed the matter a bit too asinine to be real.

Can't tush this: Bob Dougherty (courtesy Rocky Mountain News)

"They left me there, going through all that stress," Dougherty told the Rocky Mountain News. "They just let me rot."

Paramedics eventually unbolted the entire commode and carried Dougherty out, still attached to the seat. After his detachment, he spent a week in the hospital, got a shrink and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"This is not Home Depot's fault," he said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."

I do feel bad for this guy but it was just too funny not to mention.

Ben Shapiro once again wrote a great article entitled "2005:The Big Picture". He did a good job of putting things in perspective and pointing out how well certain things are despite the distortions of the MSM.

And last but not least Gayle did a good job of leading me to our 3rd Hollywood celeb (Ed Asner)that doesn't like Hillary. I'm starting to wonder how long this list will grow. Although I'm not sure Ed Asner should count because he's wandered so faaaaaaaaaar off the reservation. I think him and Phil Donahue could start their own green party cult or something and have people like Danny Glover and some of the other far left extremists join up. Anyone care to guess which Hollywood celeb with a big mouth will express their dislike of Hillary next? It will be fun to watch since all of Hollywood is supposed to adore the Clintons.

Happy New Year 2006

Prayer for the New Year

Dear Lord, please give me…
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value, without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen.
--Anonymous

This prayer really expresses how I feel about this year. I found it on the Presidential Prayer Team's website.

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions but I do have a few personal and political list of things I'd like to see happen this year.

Personal:
1) Take more risks
2) Be less judgmental and more accepting of myself and others
3) Finish my homeschool year out well with my kids
4) Find a political job by this fall

Political:
1) Alito would be confirmed to the Supreme Court
2) Republicans would keep control of the House & Senate
3) My senator Jim Talent would win re-election
4) Hillary Clinton will lose her senate seat
5) The Iraqis would have a peaceful democracy

Oliver North wrote a really good column this past week. The subject was New Year's Resolutions. Here is an excerpt that I thought was particurarly good:

"Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore should resolve to make a documentary on liberal hypocrisy -- and he can start with himself. After making his name by bashing corporate America, it was revealed by Peter Schweizer's new book "Do As I Say, (Not as I Do)," that Moore owns thousands of shares of stock in Halliburton -- the company that liberals love to hate, especially Moore, who lambasted the company in his movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resolve to do what he always has done -- ignore his critics. Every few months, the "enlightened" Washington press corps writes Rumsfeld's political obituary only to have to update it months later with the accomplishments he's achieved in the interim.

President Bush should resolve to fight in 2006 like he fought the last month of 2005 -- with courage and conviction. After months of letting his critics get the better of him, he decided to engage them, and in some cases, go over their heads directly to the people. Surprise, surprise -- his poll numbers improved.

The soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines of the U.S. military should resolve to keep doing exactly what they are doing -- defending American citizens and doing so with pride and honor. And the public should resolve to do even more to support those who are sacrificing so much for our country.

As for me, I resolve to be less opinionated in the New Year -- a resolution I vow to keep at least until my next column. Happy New Year."

I personally am excited about what this year holds. I view it as a new adventure. I'm a little nervous about changes that may happen but mostly I'm excited and willing to face the challenge. I wish a Happy New Year for all of you too.

P.S. My picture at the top of this post is from a conservative website that is worth your time to check out. It is described as "A New-Media Reading Room for Conservatives".