“He [Michael Graham] also mentioned my abridgement of First Amendment rights, i.e. talking about campaign finance reform….I know that money corrupts….I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I’d rather have the clean government.”

Watch the video at Stop The ACLU!

Two local talk show hosts in Palm Springs, Marshall Gilbert and Gary Stone on KNWZ, have come up with an idea for those who oppose illegal immigration and want to get the message out. They suggest anyone who opposes the illegals should drive with their headlights on from Saturday to Tuesday morning. The illegals will be out in force Monday, this is the chance for Americans to send the message to the politicians, “Control our borders!”

This CBSSportsline article tells you why the Houston Texans didn’t take Reggie Bush with the first overall pick in the annual NFL Entry Draft. Based the article, it’s safe to say that he’s embroiled in a ton of legal troubles.

The parents of Southern California football star Reggie Bush received $100,000 in cash from investors in a sports marketing company that hoped to sign the running back, an attorney for the investors said in a letter obtained by the San Diego Union-Tribune. Attorney Brian Watkins told the newspaper on Friday that Bush’s parents, LaMar and Denise Griffin, asked for the money partly to resolve financial problems. Watkins said the money included an initial payment of about $30,000 to help start up New Era Sports and Entertainment.

If that sounds like alot, you’re right. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Watkins said earlier this week that Bush’s parents didn’t pay $54,000 in rent during the year they lived in a house owned by a sports marketing agency investor who wanted to represent the football star. The money dispute began after Bush signed with another agent and marketing representative, ending any chance of a deal with New Era.
Bush’s mother and stepfather had agreed to pay landlord Michael Michaels $4,500 in monthly rent when they moved into the Spring Valley house Michaels bought for $757,000 in March 2005. Michaels said the Griffins told him they eventually would pay him rent from Bush’s earnings when he went pro.

If you think that’s the rest of the iceberg, you’re wrong. Either New Era or attorney David Caravantes paid Bush’s mom and stepdad to attend a couple of Bush’s away games. There’s still more to this scandal.

Watkins, who represents Lake and Michaels, said Bush’s family defrauded his clients out of $300,000 over 1½ years using “the carrot” of Bush’s future football career as an enticement.
Bush, who signed with agent Joel Segal, said he believes the matter will be cleared up in a few weeks. “I’ve got to get back to football,” he said. “My life is parallel to a horse race. They have blinders on to keep them from being distracted in the race and keep them focused on winning the race. That’s kind of like my life. Focus on the goal, not the things coming at me from the side.”

Based on these reports, Bush’s parents were shakedown artists. It doesn’t cast them in a flattering light, to say the least.

Technorati Tags: Reggie Bush, Heisman, Houston Texans, USC

Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog

Charlie Bass, who infuriated conservatives by opposing drilling in ANWR, is scoring points for challenging Ted Kennedy on the Nantucket Sound wind farm project.

Residents of the Bay State enjoy staying warm in the winter and cool during the summer. And they like playing with their computers and other electronic devices as much as the next person. Just don’t ask them to make any sacrifices to produce the electricity that keeps them comfortable and happy.
According to an Associated Press dispatch this week, “New England’s failure to build electricity generating plants will put the region at a higher-than-usual risk of resorting to precautions this summer to keep its power grid from overloading.” Citing a recent report from the Northeast Power Coordinating Council, the story noted that this region “faces a greater likelihood of measures to ease the load, including temporary voltage reductions and supply interruptions to certain industrial customers” than does its neighbors like New York and eastern Canada.
Not only is it exceedingly difficult to build new power plants of any kind given the “Not in My Back Yard” mentality so prevalent here, but there’s continuing pressure to restrict activity or even close some of the region’s most reliable and cost-efficient producers of electricity, such as the plants at Salem Harbor and Brayton Point in Somerset, because they burn coal.

This NIMBY mindset is a bunch of BS. These pointy-headed liberals want cheap, abundant electricity and freedom from foreign sources of oil but they don’t want windfarms in their view and the environmental extremists block the building of nuclear power plants and the drilling for oil and natural gas in ANWR.

These idiots want their comfort demands met without making the tradeoff. It doesn’t work that way. If you want something, you’d better be willing to pay the price for it. It’s called a tradeoff. You don’t get something priceless for nothing.
(continue reading post »)

That’s what Ayman al-Zawahri is claiming in his latest video. Chalk it up to more wishful thinking on Zawahiri’s part because it isn’t rooted in reality.

Al-Zawahri, an Egyptian militant believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan, also denounced the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq as “traitors” and called on Muslims to rise up to “confront them.”
He said that U.S. and British forces in Iraq had bogged down in Iraq and “have achieved nothing but loss, disaster and misfortune.”

Calling on jihadists to confront an entire region of Muslim nations isn’t too bright. In fact, it’s rather stupid. Coupled with his comments about “U.S. and British forces in Iraq” being “bogged down in Iraq”, it’s pretty obvious that he’s a desparate man who isn’t having much recruiting success.

“Every soldier and officer in the Pakistani military should know that Musharraf is throwing them into the burner of civil war in return for the bribes he is getting from the United States,” al-Zawahri said. “For this reason I call on every soldier and officer in the Pakistani army to disobey the orders of his commanders to kill Muslims in Pakistan or Afghanistan or otherwise he will be confronted by the mujahedeen,” he said.

He isn’t going to have much success if he’s threatening soldiers if they don’t obey him. You don’t inspire loyalty through threats.

Technorati Tags: Ayman al-Zawahiri, Iraq, Terrorism

Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog

The “V-sign” has a rich history. But today, it appears to have a different meaning.

From radical Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is anything but peaceful…

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures to the crowd during a public gathering in the city of Khorramdareh, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) west of the capital Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 28, 2006. Ahmadinejad vowed Thursday that no one could make Tehran give up its nuclear technology, and he warned that the United States and its European allies will regret their decision if they ‘violate the rights of the Iranian nation.’ (AP Photo/IRNA)

(Photo via Michelle Malkin)

So remember the old adage: actions speak louder than words, and always consider the source.

UPDATE:
BlackFive: “A Message from the USAF to UCSC”

RELATED:
Anti-Military Vandals Attack The ROTC
Anti-Military Sentiment in San Francisco Is Nothing New

Technorati Tags: Iran, Terrorism, Anti-Military, Moonbats

Let’s consider the ramifications of a Democratic House or Senate on tax policy. It’s a guarantee that we’d see tax increases if Democrats controlled the House or Senate, crippling small businesses that file their taxes as individuals.

Small businesses that make $200,000+ would have their marginal tax rates jump from 36% to 44%, a minimum increase of $16,000 annually. A friend of mine who is a small businessman would fit into that group. He recently said that he pays almost that much for his family’s health care.

The thing is that President Bush wouldn’t even get a veto on this tax increase because this tax increase would happen as part of the tax cut legislation’s sunset provisions. Democrats have railed against tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 or 2% seemingly forever. It’s a guarantee that Democrats would simply let those cuts to expire, adding mightily to those families’ expenses.

That type of tax increase would almost guarantee an economic downturn, if not a recession. During the Clinton Administration, Demogogue-in-Chief Al Gore decried the “draconian cuts” in the school lunch program that would starve children. In that situation, the Republican Congress was just talking about slowing the rate of growth in the program.

Why isn’t this seen as a “draconian cut” to families’ incomes? Isn’t it important to keep small businesses flourishing? How could this type of tax increase not cause small businesses to delay expansions to their businesses? Why wouldn’t this draconian tax increase cause more people to drop off the insurance rolls? I’d guarantee that some small business owners would stop paying a portion of their employees’ health care premiums.

Republicans who stay home this November would essentially be voting for a recession. They’d be voting for tax increases. That’s hardly an intelligent action.

It’s time for Republicans to start thinking about all of the ramifications their ‘protest votes’ would have on the economy. It certainly wouldn’t have a positive effect.

Technorati Tags: Economy, Tax Increases, Small Business, Democrats

Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog

The NY Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller and David Johnston are reporting that “Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case, is expected to decide in the next two to three weeks whether to bring perjury charges against Karl Rove, the powerful adviser to President Bush, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday.”

This comes just a day after Rove’s attorney Robert Luskin told reporters that he’d been assured that Rove isn’t a target of the investigation.

There’s three possible explanations for this: (a) The NY Times is wrong; (b) Luskin is wrong or (c) Fitzgerald lied to Luskin. I’m not automatically inclined to believe Fitzgerald at this point but I’d doubt he’d lie to Rove’s attorney. Considering all their corrections, I’m more inclined to believe that the NY Times might have gotten another story wrong.

Technorati Tags: Fitzgerald, Rove, NY Times

Cross-post at LetFreedomRingBlog

“I think people who want to be citizens of this country ought to learn English”
– President George W. Bush

As Michelle Malkin notes:

“Glad to hear that. Maybe the president could take an ever stronger stand in favor of assimilation by practicing what he preaches…and doing something about [the White House website].”

On the other hand, perhaps we have it for the benefit of our neighbors to the south to keep up with the latest news, especially on a hot topic like immigration.

Obviously, it’s doing a lot of good. They’re getting the message.

UPDATE: White House explains:

Spanish content. Policies, radio addresses and other sections of the site have been translated to accommodate Spanish-speaking visitors.

They must be talking about the est. 20 million illegal “visitors” that came and never left.

Technorati Tags: White House, Immigration, Mexico, Bush

This is hilarious, and apparently real. Great for those still suffering from the idea that the White House press corps is comprised of serious people. A transcript:

Q: Scott, I believe I asked for low foam with cinnamon. Is it the president’s position that everyone drink a mocha grande? Are we now the world’s coffee-drink police?

McClellan: I am not sure who you talked to about that. I’ll see what I can do.

Q: Is this official government policy? It’s not the first time this has happened…seriously, the American people are wondering how we can afford this many calories in wartime. Isn’t it time for the president to show some leadership?

McClellan: Well, I’ll try to get you the background on this. Shall we talk about Iran?

Q: Scott, please don’t evade. These are taxpayer dollars, and they are ruining my waistline. The American people would like to know whether our government should be so dependent on foreign caffeine. They are absolutely tousled.

McClellan: I can assure you the president has precisely no opinion on this.

Q: Some have argued that the more volatile parts of world are simply not ready for espresso. Should we be imposing our values on them?

And, scene.

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Be sure to check out the commenters on the link above. It’s as if some people are uncomfortable with free speech or something. Oops, was that my outside voice?

Cross-posted at The Only Republican in San Francisco