Happy Marsiversary

One anniversary that I didn't see noted this past week as the the 1oth anniversary of America's return to Mars with the first Mars Rover.



The third generation of Rover is being previewed as well. Lets keep it going....

Of course, since it is Transformers week, there is this alternate ending to the first Rover's life. ;-)

Fred Thompson - Empty Suit?

You know that the left is feeling threatened, when they have already started trying to tear down Fred Thompson. And he isn't even in the race yet....

Thompson Strong on Style, Not Substance
Analysis: With Substance Lacking Fred Thompson's Strength Is His Style

By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON Jul 5, 2007 (AP)

Fred Thompson's easygoing, no-nonsense style is clearly his strength and undoubtedly has helped him soar in presidential polls. It may only get him so far.

Sooner or later, the all-but-declared candidate will have to answer the question: What else do you offer?

What?!? Are you kidding?

First can we count how many times in the first 4 lines (Title, Subtitle, 1st & 2nd sentence) does the AP make the point that Fred Thompson is all style and no substance? That's right, 4 times. Talk about being as subtle as a sledgehammer.

Second....Fred, no substance? Once again....are you kidding? At the very least Ms. Sidoti should read his opinion pieces, and listen to his radio podcasts. She should also spend a week listening to conservative talk radio. He usually appears on prominent shows at least one or two times and mixes it up.

In fact Sidoti even undermines the bias of the start of the article by stating:

"He opines on hot topics, from taxes to terrorism, in online columns and on his Web site, usually without being challenged."

OK, if he "opines on hot topics", how can he be devoid of substance??? You may not like his substance, but that does not mean he lacks it. And oooooh, he isn't being challenged! He must be a vacuous empty suit, and not fit to be leader of the free world. Like anyone is challenging Hillary....

Lets give Sidoti another shot to support her point....

"The White House aspirant put his Southern-tinged style on display in Columbia, S.C., last week. He pleased GOP activists with a 30-minute speech peppered with plainspoken points and folksy sayings. They clapped at his applause lines and laughed at his jokes as he commented on hot-button issues from Iraq and immigration to terrorism and taxes and the dispirited state of the GOP."

Once again, "...he commented on hot-button issues from Iraq and immigration to terrorism and taxes and the dispirited state of the GOP." sounds suspiciously like substance to me.

So Ms. Sidoti must have some high-powered political experts with insider information who can offer good reasons why we should believe that Fred has no substance....

Still, for all Thompson's style, he left others wanting to hear more substance.

"I like him a lot, but the jury's still out on him until he tells us more," said Thomas Gilbert, 76, who traveled from Fayetteville, Ga.

His wife, Margaret Gilbert, 73, agreed: "He's a good speaker and said things I think that essentially most Americans agree with, but I really don't know that much about him or what he'd do."

Ahhhh...Tom and Marge. I think I saw them last on Meet the Press....not. And with an average age of 74.5, it is doubtful that they have been reading his stuff on imwithfred.com or listening to his podcasts between games of shuffleboard.

Good job Ms. Sidoti....if Tom and Marge are dissatisfied, I suppose I should be too. Fred has lost my vote! ;-)

Hat Tip: K-Lo

Update: Captain's Quarters highlights another anti-Fred mudslinging attempt by the LA Times

Air Force, Heck Yeah!

"We can't win without the Air Force!"







Heck Yeah!

Michael Yon: An Army of One

Yon:

"The village was abandoned. All the people were gone. But where....

As we passed through the village, Captain Combs pointed out the nice houses, saying the people had been simple farmers with comfortable homes and lives....

Until al Qaeda came....

I told the Iraqi commander, Captain Baker, that it was important that Americans see this; he took me around the graves and showed more than I wanted to see. He said the people had been murdered by al Qaeda. I made video of him speaking, and of the horrible scene. The heat and stench were crushingly oppressive and broken only by the sounds of shovels as Iraqi soldiers kept digging...."

and

"As the investigation unfolds more pertinent details, I’ll continue to update the story. But the biggest question rippling across the internet–“Why hasn’t the mainstream media picked this up?” –is something only representatives of mainstream media can answer...."

Main Stream Media reporting: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

-"Why report on actual massacres committed by Al Qaeda when you can invent fictitious massacres which undermine, rather than underscore, the seriousness of the war against Al Qaeda?"

-"Yon's story doesn't get attention because it is humiliating. It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force...."

Are we surprised?

The 'Diverse' Bombers

A few days ago I asked "It makes you wonder if the Brits really want to win, or whether capitulation will win out..."

Well, apparently multi-culti capitulation has won out.

Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word ‘Muslim’ in connection with the terrorism crisis... The shake-up is part of a fresh attempt to improve community relations and avoid offending Muslims, adopting a more ‘consensual’ tone than existed under Tony Blair.

Ah yes, I remember Tony Blair. Such a mean man, what with his harsh accurate statements about terrorists. It was enough to really hurt someone's feelings, which now apparently is illegal in Britain.

Thank goodness that we have Mark Steyn around to point out what these sustpects have in common....

Fairness Doctrine Threat?

While any talk of reviving the Fairness Doctrine by the Congressional majority should be eyed with some trepidation, I think that this instance is a pure politcal ruse with ulterior motives.

Now what could be gained by threatening to enact unpopluar legislation to restrict free speech? How about using it as a foil to achieve what you really want?

For some time now, the Dems have been bellyaching about Clear Channel Communications owning too many radio stations, "scrubbing politically divergent commentary from the air", and also being the willing servant of the Bushitler noise machine.

Thus far their complaints have gotten nowhere as have efforts to place onerous new regulations on the industry, so what is a good liberal to do?

How about offering a bogeyman so distasteful, that less restrictive regulations (e.g. limitations on station ownership) won't look so bad?

I think that this whole Fairness Doctrine exercise was nothing more than preparatory fires to soften up a target to make their actual assault a lot easier. And given the way that milquetoast Republican congress-critters have been in a conciliatory state of mind, I can see them allowing the Dems to pass such a regulatory affront.

Clown Car Terrorism?

Noah Shachtman in the Danger Room points out growing opinion that the latest British almost-car bombings are the equivalent of the Terrorist Special Olympics.

We here at the DANGER ROOM have been taking the London-Glasgow bomb plot pretty seriously. But to security guru Bruce Schneier, the scheme is straight out of the "Terrorist Special Olympics." "Beavis and Butthead in London jihad," proclaims El Reg in one story. "'al-Qaeda' puts on big shoes, red nose, takes custard pie," in another.

The argument -- echoed by lots of folks in the comments here -- is that "the device could not have detonated. Not under any circumstances. You see, the terrorist wannabe clown who built it left out a crucial element: an oxidizer. The device was pure pre-teen boy fantasy."

This very well may be turn out to be the case, but both Noah and I still consider this to be a real threat, despite the incompetence.

I mean if a few amateurs driven by some religiously inspired greivance can get as far as they did without being on the scope of British security, it makes you wonder what a real and serious Jihadi might accomplish with a legitimate car bomb?

Additionally the fact that Britain has professional class Muslims (i.e. not poor oppressed Muslims from some backwater. Anyone seeing a trend here?) cannot be a good sign for the future of that country's multi-cultural, free-for-all immigration experiment. And perhaps would have some lessons for us.

Food for thought...

Who is a Bigger Threat?

Republicans or Terrorists?

According to Hillary Clinton supporters, It's a Tie!

"It doesn’t matter whether they’re Republicans or whether they’re terrorists – she will stand up to defend this country," Christie Vilsack, wife of ex-Gov. Tom, says in her introduction of Hillary Clinton in Des Moines this evening...

Yeah, but does she advocate sending Republicans to Gitmo??

Don't Listen to Me...

...liten to the Generals.

First up, Gen Petraeus appeared with Bill Bennett on his radio this morning.

"...the big comprehensive offensive that we launched in mid-June is on track. It has made progress against al-Qaeda. There have been sacrafices. A number of us said this would get harder before it gets easier. You can't go on the offensive like our soldiers and Marines have with out taking casualties, tragically. There has been quite a bit of progress in a number of different areas..."

Listen to the audio here. (Hat Tip: K-Lo)

Meanwhile Grim at Blackfive posts links to a bloggers roundtable with BGen Wolff (COMMANDER, COALITION MILITARY ASSISTANCE TRAINING TEAM):

GRIM: I noticed -- we were talking earlier about the Washington clock. I noticed yesterday in a document that was really about -- it was really a partisan document issued by the Senate majority leader's office [GRIM: my bad memory -- it was actually from the Democratic Caucus's Senate office] about Republican obstructionism. As sort of a throwaway line at the last part of the document, it said that several hundred soldiers have died in Bush's failed surge policy. Do you feel that it is fair to say that the surge has failed?

GEN. WOLFF: No. Simple answer is no. I mean, I think you have to see how this plays out over time......

[...]

Q So these statements have consequences, then, on the battlefield.

GEN. WOLFF: Well, yeah, of course. All of our statements do. And so, I mean, again, you know, our politicians have a responsibility to the American people, and so do we. And we have to recognize that things play out in the media. And there are -- that's just a fact.

Listen to the audio here.

For a lot more of some very interesting interviews with senior military leaders, check out the DoD's Blogger's Roundtable website

Would You Like Some Bias....

...with that news??

I guess we know how the CNN web-editors (or perhaps their summer interns) feel about today's breaking news....



'Skates', huh? Maybe that is a cute attempt at allietration, but it probably fits the true definition of how many at CNN feel about this news. The verb 'to skate' of course is synonymous with the words dodge, bilk, shirk, and evade.

And people wonder why we hold the MSM in the regards we do. Would it be so hard to keep the editorializing to the editorial section, and out of the headlines/stories?

It must have been too hard to come up with a lede like this:



Congrats to the AP for burning those brain cells, although they still manage to imply that Libby leaked CIA secrets.

Sigh....