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Democrats -- moonbats all -- who tried to downplay, ignore and pooh-pooh the comments of Senator "Dick Dastardly" Durbin (Disingenuous-IL) last week are now up in arms over comments made by White House Advisor Karl Rove this week. The Dems are demanding that Rove apologize for his comments or resign.

Rove's comments, which came at a Wednesday night gathering of the New York Conservative Party, included charges that liberals are soft on terrorism.

Rove, the architect behind President Bush's election victories, on Wednesday night told a gathering of the New York Conservative Party that "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."

He added that groups linked to the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for "moderation and restraint" after the terrorist attacks.

Eli Pariser, executive director of the MoveOn political action committee, said the online group didn't oppose U.S. military action in Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

"Karl Rove is trying to change the subject on the president's failed Iraq policy," Pariser said in a statement. "Recent polls show growing majorities want an exit strategy. Lying about MoveOn won't solve Rove's problem."

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, in a letter to Rove co-signed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Democratic senators from Connecticut and New Jersey, called the presidential adviser's speech "a slap in the face to the unity that America achieved after Sept. 11, 2001."

For Rove "to try to exploit 9/11 for political purposes once again just shows you how desperate they are," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who in recent days has been the target of Republican attacks for saying that the Iraq war was a "grotesque mistake."

Perhaps the Dems should look in their own mirror before throwing stones or protesting too loudly.

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The US Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision announced today that cities can seize property from private citizens and give it to private industry.

The decision was tied to a New London, CT case where the city wanted to seize an entire neighborhood of homes under eminent domain provisions, and hand that property over to a developer who would build an office, residential and retail complex supporting a new $300 million research facility of Pfizer Pharmaceutical. In their defense, the city claimed that the eminent domain clause of the 5th Amendment to the Constitution would apply here, as the project would increase tax revenues, create jobs and improve the local economy.

As for the people that lived there, in some cases for generations? The city said the heck with 'em. And five Supreme Court justices agreed with that.

Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said the case turned on the question of whether New London's development plan served a "public purpose." He added, "Without exception, our cases have defined that concept broadly, reflecting our longstanding policy of deference to legislative judgments in this field."

New London officials "were not confronted with the need to remove blight in the Fort Trumbull area, but their determination that the area was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to our deference," Stevens wrote. "The City has carefully formulated an economic development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including--but by no means limited to--new jobs and increased tax revenue."

Stevens added that "because that plan unquestionably serves a public purpose, the takings challenged here satisfy the public use requirement of the Fifth Amendment."

"Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power," O'Connor wrote. "Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded -- i.e., given to an owner who will use it in a way that the legislature deems more beneficial to the public -- in the process."

The effect of the decision, O'Connor said, "is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property -- and thereby effectively to delete the words "for public use" from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment."

So much for the concept of personal property rights. Thanks to this decision, you can just kiss that right -- which was one of those guaranteed by the Constitution itself, mind you -- away.

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Three years ago, I wrote Slavery Reparations Aren't a "Free Lunch" for Project 21, where I point out that efforts by black intelligensia geared toward encouraging reparations be paid for slavery are simply not a matter of a "free lunch."

The only thing that's changed today are the names and the faces. The issue is still the same.

In March, Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman introduced a measure to the City Council that asked that today's black Americans be compensated by the federal government for the four hundred years that blacks historically were slaves in the New World.

Dorothy "The Hat" does not say, in her bill, how this would be accomplished, where this compensation would come from or exactly who would be paid.

Tillman has already been able to strong-arm a bill through the City Councl that demands that any firm that does business with the City be forced to disclose (and attone for) any connections to slavery in their past.

Bank of America was forced to attone for the connections of one of more than four hundred banks acquired by the Bank and it's subsidiaries over the years. In this case, Providence Bank, which was subsequently acquired by the ancestor firms making up FleetBoston, which in turn was snapped up by Bank of America in 2004.

The Chicago legislation has not been used to demand monies from those firms, but many believe that the demands are only a matter of time.

These issues are far more complex than many would have you believe. As for the "how" and the "where" of the beneficiary parties, you have to keep in mind that the federal government would have to raise taxes dramatically to cover the literally trillions of dollars that would have to be produced to satisfy most of the scenarios presented.

Which brings us back to the "who."

On the surface, many people who are married to the notion of reparations insist that all blacks should be paid. But if you look beyond the surface, you are looking at a number of intangibles. First off, there are blacks who cannot trace their ancestry to slavery in this nation for any number of reasons: their ancestors came to the United States after the abolition of slavery; they could be descended from free blacks who lived in the north or elsewhere; they could even be descended from blacks who themselves owned slaves -- and before you get up in arms, yes there were black slave owners in a number of states.

It would be difficult, at best, to determine exactly who would be entitled using that criteria.

What many don't realize is that some reparations proponents are pushing for monies to be paid to "foundations" and "organizations" devoted to the "advancement" of the black community in America. Like the NAACP or Operation PUSH.

Or in other words, to line the pockets of those self-same reparations proponents, everyone else be damned.

The proponents are looking at this as their own personal "free lunch" in the form of a glorified Ponzi scheme.

But one thing is still clear today, just as I said in my piece three years ago: TANSTAAFL -- "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch."

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According to syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist will announce his retirement from the bench this coming Monday (6/27). Hewitt also says that President Bush will announce his Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday.

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Late this afternoon, US Senator Dick Durbin (Holier Than Thou-IL), with tears in his eyes, finally apologized for his comments a week ago on the floor of the Senate which equated American troops in Iraq with Nazi stormtroopers and those from other evil regimes across the globe.

"Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line," the Illinois Democrat said. "To them I extend my heartfelt apologies."

His voice quaking and tears welling in his eyes, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate also apologized to any soldiers who felt insulted by his remarks.

"They're the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them," he said.

As recently as yesterday, spokespersons for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Galactic Empire-NV) snubbed a letter from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist demanding an apology from Durbin. No comment from Reid's office so far on the Durbin apology.

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A new, extremely violent video game release from Eidos Interactive, creators of the blockbuster "Lara Croft" game series, is catching the ire of Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

25 to Life is being called 'far worse than Grand Theft Auto' by a number of critics, including Michael Medved on his nationally syndicated radio show today.

The New York Democrat says the objective of the game called "25 to life" is to shoot police officers, and use civilians as human shields.

He says the game is so gruesome that it lowers common decency.

Schumer is asking stores not to stock the game and for PlayStation manufacturer Sony and X-Box maker Microsoft to cancel their licensing agreements with the British company that makes it.

Despite the attacks on the game, teens on internet message boards say they are looking forward to the game.

After two major delays so far, 25 to Life is slated to be released for PS2, Xbox and PCs in September.

Interestingly, there is silence from the Jackson-Sharpton cabal on the negative images of blacks portrayed in this game. Does this mean that it is OK, in their minds, for this kind of image to be presented?

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1 An objective is to shoot the police? I'll have to pass on that one. What next ... assassinate the president?

Posted by: The Owner's Manual at June 20, 2005 03:57 PM (8NViu)

2 1. Why do you assume they know about it? 2. Even if they do, what difference do they make? Just like many claim Blacks make too much of racism, don't you make too much of Sharpton, Jackson, and the others? Or, is Sharpton only good for taking money from Republicans to hurt Democrats? How about rising up out of the muck? Help out. Spread the word: http://www.blackselfhelp.info.

Posted by: DarkStar at June 20, 2005 04:18 PM (cnw1A)

3 Can't the busybodies in Washington do more than meddle in everyone's private lives? They should mind their own business, let parents decide what their children will be allowed to play, and get back to the business of straightening out this country. We have a lot more important things than video games to worry about, right now.

Posted by: Tired of the Nany State at June 20, 2005 04:23 PM (tW2ax)

4 If I didn't make Conservative blogs part of my daily readings I would NEVER know what Jackson or Sharpton are doing.

Posted by: BH at June 21, 2005 07:38 AM (J3+1w)

5 "let parents decide what their children will be allowed to play" Hey Tired, That kind of never-judge-anyone thinking is just fine, until some kid at your kid's school plays the game because his parents let him do anything. Then the kid picks up a gun, goes to school, and starts mowing people down. Maybe your kid, God forbid. Usually only those without kids make such statements. We don't live in a vacuum - things we do, and decisions we make, DO have an affect on those around us. Denying this is to deny the obvious. This post comes to you from a 39 year old fan of the GTA series, as well. TV (Harry)

Posted by: Inspector Callahan at June 22, 2005 11:36 AM (qKXq+)

6 This same controversy came up years ago with Senator Lieberman and games like Mortal Kombat. The issue was whether games like that should even be made. He pressed for a rating system, which is now in place, but not enforced. This took the responsibility off of the game producers and put it on the stores. The net result: publishers are now free to make any content they want, and now a mature rated game is an easily obtainable taboo for kids. Why make a rating system that no one will enforce? The responsibility should and ultimately will always remain on the parents

Posted by: Mulligan at June 22, 2005 01:23 PM (ApQL/)

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Former Crossfire panelist Bill Press is trying to get his syndicated radio show off of the ground, but he's having some problems.

Why is Bill Press facing so much resistance?

So far, only one station, in Akron, Ohio, is carrying "The Bill Press Show". Soon, SIRIUS will be picking it up for their left-wing talk channel (which will help only slightly), but otherwise, there are no takers.

According to reports, Press actually uses local identifiers such as station call letters, in a frank admission it's only heard there. From where is he broadcasting, though? Washington, Los Angeles, or did he relocate to Akron (which seems highly unlikely)?

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People keep telling me that they can't believe that ol' Robert Byrd (KKK-WV) was truly a member fo the Klan.

In the early 1940s, a politically ambitious butcher from West Virginia named Bob Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. After Byrd had collected the $10 joining fee and $3 charge for a robe and hood from every applicant, the "Grand Dragon" for the mid-Atlantic states came down to tiny Crab Orchard, W.Va., to officially organize the chapter.

As Byrd recalls now, the Klan official, Joel L. Baskin of Arlington, Va., was so impressed with the young Byrd's organizational skills that he urged him to go into politics. "The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation," Baskin said.

Y'ask me, I think he's still got those "tendencies" floating 'round his head...

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Manufacturers call them a "harmless novelty," anti-drug advocates and lawmakers call them an insidious means to encourage youngsters to smoke marijuana.

Several confectionary manufacturers are now marketing candies flavored with hemp oil -- which gives the sweet treats an added flavor that at least simulates the flavor of marijuana.

"This kind of thing is reprehensible," said state Sen. Vincent Fort, an Atlanta lawmaker who has organized demonstrations against the candy. "It's nothing but dope candy, and that's nothing we need to be training our children to do."

While the candies have caught the attention of government and law enforcement officials across the country, there's nothing even questionable about their legality. Hemp oil is used in products ranging from health food to beauty supplies.

And all the companies contend their candies are geared toward adults and that they advise retailers to sell the candy only to people 18 and older.

Critics don't buy that argument, citing the kind of marketing on Chronic Candy's Web site, which shows video of people apparently smoking marijuana and a warehouse with hundreds of marijuana plants.

"It's pretty clear to see what they're trying to appeal to," said Pat Shea, of Cary, N.C., Southeast program director for the anti-drug DARE program. "They want to appeal to the wannabes. We always say that the wannabes are going-to-bes."

And before you point to pedestrian liquor-oriented products like rum raisin ice cream and whisky-soaked fruitcake (gak!), none of those products are marketed toward a drug-glorifying or booze-glorifying lifestyle.

Just damn.

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US Rep John Conyers (Haterade drinker-MI) has admitted to being a true-blue moonbat on his own blog.

A commenter in an earlier thread pointed out that I had been remiss in thanking the activists at Democratic Underground for a while. I have corrected that oversight. From Ohio to Downing Street, they have always been there when it mattered.

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US Senator Dick Durbin (Insulting-IL), the Senate's Minority Whip, remained unapologetc as the uproar over his insulting comments toward the US military on the floor of the Senate entered a third day.

The Chicago Tribune suggested ignoring Durbin, while other newspapers demanded his censure or ouster from the Senate.

We know what Durbin thinks about the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners. So what's the proper treatment of our coverage-hungry senior senator when he displaces the ever-present microphone long enough to insert his foot in his mouth? Ignore him. That would be torture.

Not so from "Dick Dastardly." Durbin complained about prisoners being kept in alternating hot and cold conditions, chained hand and foot to the floor in a fetal position, and subjected to rap music.

Let's see -- while we're interrogating a prisoner, I suppose Durbin thinks we ought to serve fresh coffee and creme brulee.

I apologize to those of you reading from the great state of Illinois. Growing up in the Chicagoland area, I have a great affinity for folks there. Hopefully, you won't be duped into voting for such an idiot next time around -- even though Dickie's next election isn't until 2008.

I guess Dickie figures that he has to live down to the Howard "YAARGH!" Dean standard of statesman-like speech.

Dean is at least half-way entertaining. Durbin is just a half-ass.

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I've called Senator Dick Durbin "Dick Dastardly" in the past, but he really lived down to that nickname yesterday.

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

And you have the unmitigated gall to stand there and compare our troops to those butchers?

I don't see any dead prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. I don't see any tortured prisoners in Gitmo.

Hell, we're giving them the time they want so they can pray. We're feeding them pretty damn good food. They've got air conditioning during the day, heat at night.

But because you are so wrapped up in your visceral hatred of the Republican party in general and George W. Bush in particular, you're actually willing to vilify our troops -- endangering them even more.

Because of you and your Democratic cohorts, when the US is attacked again by terrorists, the rest of the world will say that we deserved it. That however many thousands of lives that are lost will be deserved.

Well, Dick Dastardly, those deaths, and the ones of the troops lost due to your personal vendetta are your fault. Yours and your friends. No one elses.

And as far as I'm concerned, you really should resign.

Matter of fact, I'm calling on the Republican leadership to have you censured. You, Senator, have violated your oath. By abusing your power as an elected leader in the Senate, you have violated the trust of our fighing men and women in harm's way across the globe, the trust of the citizens of the great state of Illinois, and the trust of the citizens of this entire nation.

Dickie, you're sullied yourself and what little reputation you had. Do the right thing now and resign before you embarras yourself and this nation further.

Oh. Mind you, Dickie, the longer you put off apologizing, the worse you make it for all you idiots on the left.

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I've heard some wild conspiracy theories regarding the 9/11 disaster, and most of those spewing them have been ignored like the whack-jobs they are.

But now comes Morgan Reynolds, professor emeritus at Texas A&M University, and former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President Bush's first term. Reynolds claims that the Twin Towers, along with 7WTC, which fell late in the afternoon of 9/11, were demolished deliberately by the US government.

"If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings."

But what gets me more is that there are people who are actually paying attention to this conspiracy nut.

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I was on the outs with many of my conservative cohorts on the Schiavo mess, and I don't expect that to change now.

I felt that both the medical evidence, as well as case law, sided with her husband. She was a vegetable, and barely alive in any sense of the word. We, as a society, did not have the right, legally or morally, to preserve her "life" to assuage our collective sense of piety.

I got called all kinds of names, up to and including "Nazi" over my stance in this case, by all sorts of people, including some who I had the greatest bit of respect for. I felt the US Congress had no business getting involved, and after Terri Schiavo died, I insisted (as I do today) that no one "won" in this sad, sordid matter.

The autopsy results were released today, and they confirmed what I had been saying, and had believed then.

An autopsy on Terri Schiavo backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday. It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused.

The case -- which was more about spousal rights than anything else, contrary to anything the screaming "Terri-bots" (to coin one phrase used for her supporters) will tell you in print, on the air or online.

The case is over, and Terri, thankfully, is no longer lingering, but the verbal attacks and abuse live on.

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The US Senate on Monday formally apologized for decades of inaction on legislation that would have outlawed lynching against blacks and others years sooner. The practice was used in this country well into the 20th Century, while lawmakers - both Republican and Democrat - across the nation turned a blind eye.

Nearly 200 descendants of lynching victims, as well as 91-year-old James Cameron, Marion, Ind., who is thought to be the only living survivor of a lynching attempt, listened from the visitors' gallery to speeches about what Sen. George Allen, R-Va., described as "the failure of the Senate to take action when action was most needed."

"I came here to bear witness on behalf of my cousin Jimmy," said Janet Langhart Cohen, wife of former Defense Secretary William Cohen and a member of the group that has pushed for the apology.

Her third cousin, 17-year-old Jimmy Gillenwaters, was killed in 1912 by a lynch mob near Bowling Green, Ky.

He was one of 4,743 people killed by mob violence from 1882 to 1968, according to Tuskegee University records. Of those, nearly three-fourths, 3,446, were blacks.

According to university records, lynchings reached a peak of 230 in 1892, but they were prevalent well into the 1930s. Twenty lynchings were reported in 1935. During that time, nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and three passed the House. Seven presidents from 1890 to 1952 petitioned Congress to pass a federal law.

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Today's "too sick for belief" moment comes to us from Kansas City.

A Kansas City abortionist is out of business after investigators discovered a grisly house of horrors at his clinic – with fetuses kept in Styrofoam cups in his refrigerator and one employee accusing him of microwaving one and stirring it into his lunch.

The unsanitary conditions in Krishna Rajanna's clinic prompted legislative approval of new abortion regulations in Kansas, a bill that was vetoed by the governor. Rajanna's activities have reportedly been the subject of law-enforcement investigations for nearly two years.

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At Tuesday evening's Congressional Gala at the Washington Convention Center, President George W. Bush unloaded both barrels into the leadership of the Democratic Party, who has been on the warpath lately, thanks to the constant off the wall rantings of DNC Chair Howard "YAAARRGGHH!" Dean.

The president drew standing ovations from GOP faithful as he hammered Democrats for offering no solutions to the nation's most pressing problems. "If leaders of the other party have innovative ideas, let's hear them. But if they have no ideas or policies except obstruction, they should step aside and let others lead," Mr. Bush said to thunderous applause from more than 5,000 supporters.

The president, who has spent the last several months seeking consensus on his Social Security reform package and reaching out to Democrats with non-confrontational rhetoric, said opposition party leaders are pursuing "the philosophy of the stop sign, the agenda of the road block, and our country and our children deserve better."

"Political parties that choose the path of obstruction will not gain the trust of the American people," he said at the event dubbed "The 2005 President's Dinner."

Mr. Bush said political parties can take one of two approaches: "One approach is to lead, to focus on the people's business, to take on the tough problems, and that is exactly what our party is doing."

"The other approach is to simply do nothing, to delay solutions, obstruct progress, refuse to take responsibility. Members of the other party have worked with us to achieve important reforms on some issues, yet, too often, their leadership prefers to block the ideas of others."

Just damn, indeed.

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Just got something in the mail that simply warms my heart:

Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troups at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers that have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States, especially burn victims. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base but as you can imagine, they are almost completely filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

The question I have is why does Alec Baldwin, Modonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America crap and this doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the base newspaper in San Antonio

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