I Adore President George W. Bush!

"Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders."

"We must do the difficult work today, so that years from now people will look back and say that this generation rose to the moment, prevailed in a tough fight, and left behind a more hopeful region and a safer America."--President George W. Bush, January 28, 2008

Bush came out shining and strong last night with his last State of the Union Address! I was so proud of him. I have to say that I have never felt so strongly about what a wonderful president he has been. IMHO, no matter who wins the Republican nomination or who wins the presidency this fall, it will be a lesser man that takes office next year.

When you just look at how he words things. He talks about how we "trust Americans with their own money". I still remember Bill Clinton saying that the American people couldn't be trusted to spend their own money wisely, yikes!!

Not only is he great economically, coming up with tax cuts to help stimulate the economy and give people back their own money, but look at Iraq. It was pretty ironic to see the camera pan to some of the people who a year ago were screaming for us to cut and run in Iraq and now look how well the surge has gone. If it weren't for Bush refusing to give into the naysayers we might not be having some of the successes we are having today.

Here is the wonderful way that he concluded his address:

"The strength -- the secret of our strength, the miracle of America, is that our greatness lies not in our government, but in the spirit and determination of our people. (Applause.) When the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787, our nation was bound by the Articles of Confederation, which began with the words, "We the undersigned delegates." When Governor Morris was asked to draft a preamble to our new Constitution, he offered an important revision and opened with words that changed the course of our nation and the history of the world: "We the people."

By trusting the people, our Founders wagered that a great and noble nation could be built on the liberty that resides in the hearts of all men and women. By trusting the people, succeeding generations transformed our fragile young democracy into the most powerful nation on Earth and a beacon of hope for millions. And so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the state of our Union will remain strong. (Applause.)

So tonight, with confidence in freedom's power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business. God bless America."

Thursday's Thoughts

--I loved the above cartoon about McCain. It says it all for me!!

--Patrick had a ton of good posts yesterday. I am going to link to several of them. The first is his shocking find that explains A LOT about the nature of Fred Thompson's campaign. It also makes the critics of Fox News for not giving Fred enough coverage look pretty silly.

--Duncan Hunter endorses the Huckster. Unfortunately, I was warned this might be coming down the pike. The Hunter campaign guy that I had on the radio show told me that the only candidate he had favorable things to say about were Huckabee. I think this was a huge mistake. First, Huckabee probably won't get the nomination so he just shot himself in the foot for being on the short list for VP. Second, Hunter stood for core conservative principles. To endorse Huckabee violates everything he stood for and ran on. It is a huge disappointment for me.

Also, Hunter's reasons for not supporting Romney and Rudy were pretty ridiculous. When the campaign guy said he had some bad news about both of them I braced myself for some really negative news only to be left scratching my head.

--Many think Huckabee is done, I'm afraid to get my hopes up just yet. Patrick found 2 very enlightening articles on him that were very good. One quote that I found very striking was this one:

"He's very good at what he does, but beyond the surface glitter of his rhetoric, there's no there there. This is not a man who can (or would want to) discuss the finer details of Kirkean conservatism; even though he is a seminary-trained preacher, he has little patience for, nor interest in, the complexities of theology that underlie Christian social thought."

This is the exact impression I get of him. Even on religious issues he doesn't seem to have any depth. Many pro-Huckabee people site his views on creationism. I applaud him for those but what was astonishing is when he was grilled on his views he started to back down and waver. It was almost as if he didn't know for sure exactly what he believed, this coming from a preacher who should be an expert in the field. Yikes!!

Also, when you see that he sided with the liberal wing of the Southern Baptists you can see that there isn't any there there.

--The group accusing Bush of Iraq lies is a Soros funded group, shocker!! Gateway Pundit has an excellent post and round-up of it all.

--I'm done with Laura Ingraham. I left this comment at Wordsmith's blog:

I've gotten to the point where I can't listen to Laura Ingraham anymore. I stopped listening to her for awhile because of her incessant Bush bashing. I decided to give her another chance the other day, I kid you not, I was listening for less than 5 minutes and she started trashing Bush. Nope, I'm done with Ingraham for a very long time, probably for good. Its not even that she's bashing people I really like such as Bush and Rudy but she is just so negative.

The reason Rush and Sean Hannity are so popular is because they are so optimistic and positive. Who wants to listen to someone who constantly trashes good people on their own side? I now put her a distant second after Michael Savage as a negative talk show host that I have no desire to listen too.

Also, you hit the nail on the head when you said that she doesn't speak for me. Exactly!! I was actually shocked when Rush promoted her book about what the people want. To me it is a book written by a whiner who has no positive solutions.

She came here to KC a couple of months ago and someone tried to give me free tickets. I let them know I had no desire to go see her.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

This is Martin Luther King giving his "I have a Dream" speech. It is very moving to actually see the footage since this took place before I was even born. It is incredible when you see how many people were there. It is awe-inspiring and a remarkable moment in history.

Gateway Pundit points out how King got some of his speech from an African American preacher by the name of Rev. Archibald Carey who gave his speech at the Republican National Convention in 1952. You'll never hear that from Jesse Jackson :-). Gateway Pundit also points out that Ronald Reagan is the one who signed the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday into law.

A Review of My Grandfather's Son

"Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more. Do not let worldly cares and and anxieties or the pressures of office blot out the divine life within you or the voice of God's spirit guiding you in your great task of leading humanity to wholeness. If you open yourself to God and his plan printed deeply in your heart, God will open Himself to you."--St. Francis of Assisi

Thomas recited this prayer daily for sustenance and guidance to help him cope with controversy.

I got this book for Christmas and was able to read it while on vacation in Michigan. I can't say enough good things about this book. It is a MUST READ for everyone whether you are a conservative, moderate or even a liberal. It is the compelling true life story of a man who rose from poverty against all odds to become a Supreme Court Justice.

Thomas is very honest about his life, struggles, faith and what he faced through it all. I think the most difficult thing about what he went through during the hearings is how he was so unjustly accused. One of the reasons he was picked was that he had no skeletons in his closet and was a man of integrity. He went out of his way to help Anita Hill in every step of her career and yet she repaid him by blemishing his record by her outlandish claims. Yet, even through the difficult times his faith became stronger than ever and he learned who his friends were.

Once again, you find out what kind of person someone is by how they face trials. Instead of becoming bitter Thompson only allowed this trial to make him stronger. I was astonished that some liberal critics said he appeared to have a "chip on his shoulder" in the book and in the interviews. Nothing could be further from the truth in the picture I saw of him in all the interviews and especially the book.

Another thing I gained from reading the book was a new found respect for former U.S. Senator John Danforth. Danforth is a very moderate Republican and I have vehemently disagreed with him on several issues but his treatment, loyalty and friendship to Thomas was unwavering. He was one of the first people to take a chance on Thomas when others were unwilling to give him a chance and he weathered the storm with Thomas through the hearings. Anyone who has that caliber of character deserves my respect whether I agree with him on certain issues or not.

The book so inspired and moved me that I'm going to write Thomas a personal letter telling him how much it meant to me.

Book Rating--10 out of 10 stars!!

ConservaLib Consulting

I have said many times that my liberal buddy James needs to apply to be a writer at Saturday Night Live. He comes up with the most hilarious skits and his latest one is no exception. It is a must read and I guarantee you tears while laughing it is so funny.

(*Disclaimer--The following is just a comedy skit and does not necessarily reflect our real comments or thoughts. Also, James' language is "colorful" so you've been warned.)

Here is the beginning of his post:

"With such a difficult and challenging election cycle upon us, politicians are scrambling to find experienced campaign consultants to help navigate the treacherous road to the White House.

The current candidates have found the consultation of established political pundits lacking in creativity and disconnected from the true concerns of the average American.

To fill the void of insightful political punditry, two overwhelming intelligent, immensely creative, and at times violent bloggers have joined together to form a new political consulting firm.

ConservaLib Consulting and Public Relations Inc., founded by Liberal blogger, James Manning and Conservative blogger, Dee Vantuyl, brings a fresh approach to political consulting and public relations manipulation. Between them, they have assaulted Presidents, fought with the press and James Manning has even gotten his ass whooped by the President’s mother.

This unique experience enables us to provide insight to a campaign that other consulting firms cannot. The proof is in the results of candidates who didn’t follow our advice."

He goes on to share how he and I critique the following candidates: Kucinich, Biden, Ron Paul and Fred Thompson. Make sure to read the entire post by going here!

One of our previous adventures--LMC Ambassador/Butt Kicker

I'm on Cloud 9!!

This past Saturday I wrote a post entitled, Why I adore Sean Hannity. I talked about how Sean Hannity expressed some of the very same frustrations with the Republican race that I had and how we saw things in similar ways.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from him this morning thanking me for the post. Then, when the call screener called me about being on the show she wanted me to talk about Obama and Hillary. I said I wanted to talk about McCain and Huckabee and she was against it until I told her about the email. Then she said, Wow, okay go ahead and mention it.

Sean was so gracious. Not only did he remember my website but he remembered that I had an internet radio show. He let me talk about both and was very sweet. He said he had found my post through the KC Star and someone else also alerted him to my post. It was awesome!! I then got to talk with him about how I had the same frustrations with the Drive By Media forcing the 2 most liberal candidates on us. It was great.

I got to talk to him before the show started so they must have pre-taped it today. The 2 other times I got through I was on the air right away but this time they called me back from Friday. I thought it was going to air around 2:40 ish CST but that has passed so it could possibly be on around 3:40 or 4:40 ish. I have no idea, except I assume it will be on sometime today.

Why I Adore Sean Hannity

As many of you may remember I used this picture for my icon picture for a long time in the beginning. The reason being that I am a big Sean Hannity fan.

When we were live blogging the another night we had a newcomer start to criticize Hannity. For me those are fighting words. It is not that Hannity is perfect or never wrong but there is so much to love about him. He and Rush are my favorite talk show hosts by far but I like the two of them for different reasons. I like Sean because he has a similar personality to me, he is a genuine Christian and he genuinely cares about people. Aside from all of that he and I seem to see politics through a very similar prism. When pressed to describe my radio style I would have to say the closest analogy would be that I am a female version of Sean Hannity.

I was reminded of all this yesterday when he started out his show expressing some of the very thoughts that I've been having lately. He has done an extremely good job up until now of staying pretty objective on all the Republican candidates praising them each for their strengths. He always reaffirms that any of them would be far better than any of the Democrats and he has given them all many opportunities to be interviewed on his radio and TV show.

There have been some accusations by others that he was pro-Rudy and I thought about this and had to admit that I hadn't noticed it. The reason being that I like Rudy for the same reasons that Sean likes him and so it all resonated with me. That said, I still think he has been more than fair to the rest of the candidates, a lot fairer than I would've been.

Yet, yesterday he finally admitted his frustration with the fact that the Drive By Media seems to be promoting two Republican candidates. He is frustrated with the fact that they are promoting McCain and Huckabee, who he deemed to be the two most liberal candidates of the five front runners. As he continued it was all music to my ears. He was expressing the exact frustration that I have been feeling about the whole race. He said it was unfair to say that it is over for Romney if he doesn't win Michigan or for Thompson if he doesn't win South Carolina. He didn't like the fact that the Drive By Media was trying to force two liberal candidates on us. We should be able to vote for who we like the best, not who we are told is viable.

I was so encouraged that he finally started talking about the liberal records of both McCain and Huckabee. He also referred to David Limbaugh's latest column where Limbaugh does a great job of exposing Huckabee's record as well. It was so refreshing that I finally called into the show at the end while I was on my way to Karate. The call screener said she was looking for liberals. I laughed and said well, that wouldn't be me. She then took my information down and said they would call for me to be on the show for Monday. I'm not sure if it is guaranteed but if I do get to talk to him on Monday I will be sharing these exact thoughts. You go Sean Hannity!!

Live Chat Tonight for New Hampshire Primary Results

Starting shortly before 7 PM CST (8 PM EST) we'll be hosting a live chat to discuss the results of the New Hampshire primary election.

This will be another experiment in blog simulcasting as several blogs will have the chat screen available on their site with the chat playing on all.

We're also returning to the more free-wheeling Gabbly Chat, which requires no moderator but also makes banning offensive kooks more difficult.

Keep in mind you can always mute offensive commenters by clicking on their name in the sidebar and it's usually a good idea NOT to feed their poisonous egos by responding.

Tune in tonight before 7PM CST and join the party!

I'm Back!!

Tales from my Trip

--I had overdone it in December and had only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before we left so I slept a lot the first couple of days.

--I got lots of reading done. I joined a fun group this year where we are committing to reading 50 books for the year so I wanted to get a good start. I will be doing some book reviews in the near future. The Clarence Thomas book was the best book I have read in a long time. It was very inspirational and whether you are a liberal, conservative or a moderate it is a MUST READ!!

--My oldest daughter is finally old enough to watch Alias, so we are watching all the episodes in order from the beginning. It has been a lot of fun and we are bonding watching Sydney, Vaughn, Will and Marshall :-).

--I felt like I was in a nightmare as I watched the surges of Huckabee and McCain on Fox News. Susan Estrich (and many other Dems) view Huckabee as their dream candidate to run against. No wonder why.

--I didn't have internet access while I was gone but I have still stayed on top of the news. So stay tuned for my thoughts on all of the current events. I was stunned by Bhutto's assassination. Obama winning and Hillary coming in 3rd definitely is a blow to unity for the Dems, the only good news from tonight.

--We got 17 inches of snow in Michigan, so it delayed my return. Mike was starting to wonder if I was going to be the next missing woman on Fox News :-). Huge thanks to him for blog sitting and troll watching while I was gone.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and New Years wishes to you all!!

Live Chat for Iowa Results Thursday Night

The Live Chat is closed, but I've been told it was lots of fun!!

I missed the action because I was driving home from Michigan. I do want to say that I did drive through Iowa at the exact time the caucuses were going on so that was interesting. My friend said I should go in somewhere and have my kids sing some kind of song begging people not to vote for Huckabee :-)))!!