BlogWonks

I do not know if all Americans have faith in their religion - for who can read to the bottom of hearts? - but I am sure that they believe it necessary to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion does not belong only to one class of citizens or to one party, but to the entire nation; one finds it in all ranks. - Alexis de Tocqueville, as quoted in "American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation,"  Jon Meacham

The Liberty Letters are a project of The Latter-day Center for Moral Liberalism

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The gem is in the New York Post today:

For the past 20 years, the Media Research Center has been compiling its list of notable quotables. The quotes, from prominent members of the mainstream news media, provide a clear window into the leftist mindset that pervades most of America's large news organizations. At the end of the year, the center (helped by a panel of judges) chooses the best examples.

Here's my personal favorite:

"Do you worry at all that non-believers may feel excluded and diminshed at a time when we're divided by so much?"

- Katie Couric to "Nativity Story" director Catherine Hardwicke and screenwriter

Is it any wonder that Katie's CBS Evening News ratings are routinely beaten by a test pattern on channel 672?

Here's Dan Rather, a runner-up in the "Not biased enough" award category, explaining, in a roundabout way — I think — why he decided to become a comedian:

“Comedians, such as yourself, Jon Stewart and others, are a valuable supplement, and here’s why: Good journalism at its best frequently speaks truth to power. What’s happened with journalists — again, I don’t except myself from this criticism — in some ways we’ve lost our guts. We need a spine transplant. What’s happened is comedians, in their own way, speak truth to power and fill that vacuum that we in journalism have too often left, particularly post 9/11.”

— Dan Rather to Bill Maher on HBO’s Politically Incorrect

And if that fails, just get phony documents and run with it.

Sally Field, a runner-up in the "Barbra Streisand Political IQ Award for Celebrity Vapidity" category thinks she and her sexual ilk should be in complete control of the world:

“Let’s face it: If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no Goddamned wars in the first place.”

— Actress Sally Field at the Emmy awards

Oh, I don't know about that, Sally. For example, how many wars in history have started simply because someone blasphemed? Besides that, hundreds of powerful women with either synched-up periods or going full-bore through menopause who are ticked off at their lazy husbands for watching too much football while their polished fingers are nervously tapping on the nuclear button — what could possibly go wrong?

The full list of winners, including some of the idiocy that is recorded for posterity, along with a comprehensive list of the runners-up, is here at the Media Research Center's website.

Incidentally, the article in the Post is entitled "Hoist by their own petard." How long will it be until one of the vacuous dingbats quoted castigates the Post for using a slur like "petard."

It's nearly time to kick off another year. I know we're all wondering what the coming 365 days will hold, so at the end of every year I try and eliminate at least a little of the suspense.

Here is 2008: The year in preview.

You can give it a "Digg" here.

Father’s 4 Justice and the National Coalition of Free Men, Los Angeles joined hands in the spirit of the holidays to make a giant turn out in the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park. An eight (8) foot snowman loomed large over the day’s events and his smaller, snowman buddy stood tall too, to proclaim a holiday message that includes Fathers.

Cindy Sheehan continues to allow herself and others to tap dance on her son's casket. This time she plans to stage a protest at the Rose Parade.

Apparently she's ticked off that USC's going into the game without an exit strategy, and Illinois is just in it for the oil.

Jesus Christ in 2008!I’m not saying this in the sense that one should vote for Jesus Christ at the polls, although the thought does linger with me to vote Jesus Christ as a write-in.  

The US is facing trouble, but the current crop of presidential candidates are not going to solve our problems. Every man is imperfect.

I have, however noticed one presidential candidate who seems sincere about returning to our lost values as a country and picking up the traditions that have been stomped on in past years. That person is Alan Keyes.

I have noticed Alan Keyes’s position on the issues and his fevered attitude of revering our Christian heritage. He’s a strong conservative, but one question lingers with me… if he is elected as president, will he stand strong on his Christian convictions through his entire term(s) in office? 

In the past, I mentioned Congressman Tom Tancredo as a viable candidate for President…a man who has tried to bring to attention the many problems our nation faces regarding wanton illegal immigration. He was also solid on many conservative issues. However, he is not in the running for the White House anymore and as Tancredo emerged as a candidate, he started to exhibit some fatal flaws. On House Resolution 635 which honored Ramadan, he didn’t stand fully opposed as I hoped he would.  Instead he straddled the fence voting “present” and chose to comment on the out of control political correctness.  And when Mr. Tancredo dropped out of the race for president, he threw his support behind a presidential candidate who has had a history of flip- flopping on conservative issues.

Like I said, I have realized that no man will be a perfect candidate.

But we as a nation have forgotten from whom we get our prosperity. We have forgotten that our strength comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, and it’s by His hand that we have not fallen to our knees.

As a majority of us in America are Christians, I would implore Christians everywhere to vote for Jesus. Vote for Jesus to guide you…in your heart. Allow Him to direct you as to what candidate you should support.

It seems that conservatives are all over the map as to whom they will support.  And many are throwing their support around shaky top tier candidates who are not strong on conservative issues. That is worrisome.  Why would conservatives back a candidate because he seems popular in the Republican Party? It makes no sense.  True conservatives have been ignored. It’s time we start noticing them.

Trust the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. –Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) 

Again, we should be looking to Jesus Christ to lead us in every aspect of our lives. He knows what’s best for us. So, shouldn’t we seek His direction on who we should cast our ballots for in the presidential race? Whoever we vote for will have a significant chance to lead our nation, and this person will have an effect on the way we live. I hope people realize this.

Staying at home in protest is not the answer. However disgruntled or confused some voters are at the crop of candidates they have to choose from, opting not to vote is not going to help.  Having the right to vote is a huge opportunity to have your say.

Confused about the candidates? Let the Lord Jesus Christ guide you. Ask Him in prayer. Connect more with the Lord God.  He will hear you.

In order for our nation to regain its former strength, we need Jesus. Put Him first, He will take care of the rest.

*Learn where each presidential candidate stands on the issues

www.ontheissues.org

 *Felicia Benamon is a conservative columnist who writes from a political perspective, but occasionally deviates to write about other concerns facing her country.  A patriotic American, Felicia hopes to motivate others to be more conscious of the current state of affairs in America, and to hold true to the wonderful traditions that make America great.

Felicia comes from a military background and is proud to support the men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect American citizens and who reach out to help those in need across the globe.

Write to Felicia at: FeliciasDesk@aol.com

A citizen of Ecuador was captured by the New York City Police Department and charged with rape, criminal sex act & endangering the welfare of a child. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years probation. The victim was a twelve year old girl.

“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is committed to insuring the public safety of our communities and we will not tolerate the actions of sexual predators and those who threaten the welfare of our children,” said New York ICE Acting Special Agent in Charge Salvatore Dalessandro.

“If you are preying on our children, we are going to find you; and if you are not a US citizen, we will deport you. We will continue to partner with New York City Probation Department and other law enforcement agencies to this end,” he warned.

However, as SAIC Dalessandro noted, it was probation officers, and not police officers, who notified ICE about the child predator. Members of the New York City Police Department are prohibited from informing federal agencies about illegal aliens who are arrested for felony or misdemeanor crimes.

More and more American police commanders and officers are witnessing the growing and disturbing trend of cities and localities instructing law officers to ignore an individual’s immigration status during the course of their duties.

“This practice negates our immigration laws when our local leaders refuse to assist in managing the growing lawbreaking population in our great nation,” said former New York City police detective Sid Francis.

“When cities proclaim that they will not check immigration status, they essentially become a safe haven for not only out-of-status immigrants, but also criminal aliens who have often committed violent atrocities in our country,” said the decorated detective and former US Marine.

Advocates for increasing US border security and controlling immigration point to the thwarted terrorist plots at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, in Germany and in South Carolina are some of the latest examples of the continued desire of anti-American forces to inflict harm on the United States and its allies.

“While we are engaged in a global fight for freedom, why would any American city enact policies that give unknown illegal immigrants sanctuary from detection, arrest or prosecution?” asks Police Officer Edna Aguayo, who comes from a family of cops.

“Instead of working side-by-side with federal authorities, state officials are putting their citizens at risk by erecting barriers to cooperation and enforcement,” she said.

Many Americans believe that federal funds should be denied to cities and towns that declare themselves a “Sanctuary City.”

However, in November, when asked by Fox News if he believed his Department had the authority to deny Homeland Security funds to cities or municipalities that took steps to provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff replied, “I don’t know that I have the authority to cut off all Homeland Security funds if I disagree with the city’s policy on immigration.”

“As the number of sanctuary cities in the US grows, it is time Congress gives [Chertoff] that authority and lets these cities know that they can not selectively choose to enforce our laws,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

“Just about every cop I’ve spoken with told me that they feel hampered by politicians who care more about political power than they do about protecting the lives and property of the American people,” Baker said.

For example, research in the area of child predators is disturbing and, at times, out and out shocking. Det. Francis studied arrest reports involving criminal aliens who committed child sex crimes including Julio Cesar Rabago-Magana, a Mexican man who sexually assaulted a four-year-old child in a basement in Minneapolis, Minn. Rabago-Magana pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. After serving his criminal sentence, he was arrested by Immigration agents at his St. Paul home and deported six days later.

“The illegal immigration problem is allowing hundreds of thousands of criminal aliens to invade our nation and kill, maim, rob and abuse our citizens, ” one Border Patrol agent told Newswithviews.com. Research revealed that in one 9-month period the federal government arrested over 100,000 criminal aliens. These arrests do not include arrests made by state and local law enforcement.

Det. Francis adds that our political leaders and the mainstream news media practically ignore this issue and pro-illegal immigration advocates resort to name-calling to silence anyone who attempts to sound the alarm.

“If anything, the President and the two houses of Congress are actually helping these fiends enter the US to assault citizens and their children. They appear more intent on locking up border patrol agents than stopping illegal alien thugs,” said Baker.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) has introduced H.R. 3531, the Accountability in Enforcing Immigration Laws Act of 2007. This bill clarifies that state and local law enforcement officials have the authority to investigate, apprehend, and arrest any illegal immigrant apprehended in the course of routine duties.

“Those law enforcement agencies that help the federal government enforce immigration laws would receive additional federal funding to help with the costs of detention,” said Rep. Brown-Waite in a press release.

“Sanctuary cities, on the other hand, would have 25 percent of non-emergency federal Homeland Security funding revoked if they refuse to change their policies within 6 months. H.R. 3531 also gives the Secretary the authority to withhold up to 50 percent of federal funds,” she said.

“When cities proclaim that they will not check immigration status, they essentially become a safe haven for not only out-of-status immigrants, but criminal aliens who have often committed violent atrocities in our country,” said Lt. Steve Rogers, a police commander from northern New Jersey.

“Imagine that Mohammed Atta or one of the other 9/11 hijackers, who were in the country illegally, had a city they could reside in to plot terrorist attacks with no fear of ever being checked or deported. We run the risk of inviting terror into these cities,” he added.

Illegal immigration opponent Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) sponsored a measure, which he says would apply to cities such as Denver and Boulder in his home state. He was elated by its passage, which stunned critics and supporters alike.

However, critics point out that the Littleton Republican’s amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill appears to have no language specifically defining what a “sanctuary city” is. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has long disputed giving his city that label.

“The issue has come to fruition,” Tancredo said in a press release. “The people of the country really have spoken. It’s a really good indicator of just how much closer to the people the House is than the Senate is.”

Tancredo has introduced similar amendments at least seven other times since 2004, but each has failed — often by wide margins. But already the House passed the Homeland Security appropriations bill, which now goes to the Senate. It would have to be signed by the president to become law.

A year ago, Tancredo and other immigration foes unveiled billboards in Denver, including one with a mock declaration: “Welcome to SANCTUARY CITY . . . Relax, you made it! Brought to you by Executive Order 116.” The billboard referred to a 1998 order issued by then-Denver Mayor Wellington Webb that outlines the city’s anti-discrimination stance regarding immigrants.

“There are no ordinances, executive orders or regulations that establish a ’sanctuary policy’ in Denver,” the mayor’s spokesperson, Lindy Eichenbaum-Lent, said at the time. “Denver’s policies comply with federal law, and Denver law enforcement officers cooperate with federal officials on immigration matters. Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said Denver is not a sanctuary city, so merely erecting a misleading billboard doesn’t make it true.”

The proposed amendment comes as the Senate is poised to take up debate again on an immigration reform plan that some opponents criticize as giving amnesty to illegal immigrants. President Bush, who supports the Senate’s reform plan, sweetened the deal this week by agreeing to include $4.4 billion for border security. The Senate had put the reform bill on ice because it lacked enough support to bring to a vote.

Tancredo said his amendment is an indicator that the House would crush the reform plan if it passes in the Senate.

“If I were [Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi, I’d be asking if she could pass a vote on amnesty on the House side,” Tancredo said. “If she lost 50 Democrats on this one, and she says she needs 70 Republicans to pass the immigration plan, this is an interesting indicator of things coming down the pike, and that the times, they are a-changing.”

Recently three Newark college students — were forced to kneel against a wall behind an elementary school and were then shot to death at close range. A fourth victim was found alive about 30 feet away, with gunshot and knife wounds to her head.

These weren’t “throw-away kids” or gang members or “dopers,” said Lt. Rogers. “These were decent, wholesome youngsters from good families looking forward to the upcoming school year. That is until they were gunned down execution-style — by an illegal alien who should not have been in the country in the first place!”

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

In the Washington Times, Bill Gertz discusses some of the U.S. Defense Department's "outreach programs" for Muslim groups. Yeah, that's right — outreach programs:

Stephen Coughlin, a specialist on Islamic law on the Joint Staff, met recently with Hasham Islam, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England's close aide. The officials said Mr. Islam, a Muslim who is leading efforts for the Defense Department's outreach to Muslim groups, sought to convince Mr. Coughlin to take a softer line on Islam and Islamic law elements that promote extremism.
[…]
Mr. Coughlin came under fire from pro-Muslim officials after a memorandum he wrote identified several groups that are being courted by Mr. Islam's community outreach program as front organizations for the pro-extremist Muslim Brotherhood.

Wow, Stephen Coughlin sure is an affront to the United States, isn't he? The SOB has the audacity to do his job? He's got to go!

Remember when the only "outreach program" the Defense Department did involved B-52's, missles and a hoard of highly trained Marines? Now when we're attacked we send a platoon of school psychologists.

It's clear that, instead of guns and bombs, political correctness is the greatest weapon the enemies of America have, and they intend to use it. That we're allowing them to wield it freely is evidence that it's time for new leadership from top to bottom.

A child demonstrates how the Defense Department's "outreach program" will work

(h/t LGF)

I just did a review for He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys and I thought maybe someone at MND might find it useful in terms of their daily discussions. Believe me, I’m not recommending it, lol.

I’m trying to put together a book of my own concerning some of this stuff which is what led me to finally devour this lightweight bestseller. I grant that I’m not the target audience for Mr. Behrendt, but I was rather astounded that such a simple and deceptive work received the blockbuster reception it did. Liz Tuccillo is co-author and she occasionally adds some input of her own here. She is not astute regarding these matters but appears to know fifty times more about relationships than the work’s principal author.

The main problem with the book is its gigantic misunderstanding of female motivation regarding reproductive selection. A crucial and unbelievably integral fact that Mr. Behrendt does not comprehend is that women are attracted to men who are indifferent towards them. The snarky and condescending advice he issues in the form of answers to fanmail—and it is within this format that He’s Just Not Into You is structured—soon becomes pointless as a result. Behrendt can describe to women what some men may be thinking but he has no idea what females are thinking or how they get themselves into particular situations.

Women do not like guys who initially come off as being subservient (when they first meet them at least, long-term is a different matter entirely). This is why the “nice guys finishing last” mantra came about in the first place. That this quip about nice guys is so well known is due to its being true. Women, for a variety of psychological reasons, are repulsed by men who worship them in the early stages of courtship. They want a man who’s a challenge and one who will not immediately roll over for them and become their groupie. That’s why they attach themselves to fellows who “are not that into them.”

What males reading this haven’t had a girl you were only mildly interested in end up falling love with you? It happens all the time and it’s a result of ambivalence. Whereas, the women for whom one cannot hide intense admiration are the same ones who lose respect for you and blow you off. This is a very common occurrence, and it will continue until our society stops referring to the fairer sex with the respect that should be reserved for Abraham Lincoln or Dr. Martin Luther King.

Lastly, why should any person have to be notified about others not being into them? This is most troubling. Shouldn’t normal folks be able to discern such a state of affairs on their own? I suppose though that this last question is one we’ll have to explore at a later date.

Planned Parenthood loved Mitt Romney back when he was pro-choice — but now that he's wooing pro-lifers, PP is honoring Mitt with his own flip-flop clothing line:

Less than a week before the neck-and-neck race to finish first in the Iowa caucuses, Planned Parenthood has launched a line of “multiple choice Mitt” clothing including bibs, baby onesies and T-shirts that blast GOP candidate Mitt Romney’s “flip-flop” on abortion rights.

In a fitting tribute to the mission of Planned Parenthood, if someone orders a bib, onesie or t-shirt from PP, it will arrive sans baby. But don't worry, staunch pro-choicers, they'll still look fantastic on those spotted owls, chinchillas and snail darters you're willing to lay your lives on the line to save in the name of human decency.

Below is a shirt that Romney may want to consider selling in order to reciprocate:

Barack Obama's advisor said the resurgence of Al Qaeda in Pakistan is the result of the US taking their eye off the ball by focusing on Iraq — thus blaming the Benazir Bhutto killing on Bush (as is mandatory), but also on Hillary Clinton. After all, Hillary voted for the Iraq war.

Clinton's advisor responded by saying that discussing the political implications of the Bhutto assassination so soon was crass. So naturally, Hillary Clinton took the advice of her advisor by going out and talking about her friendship with Bhutto for reasons of political implications.

As Hillary spoke to a volunteer fire department in Denison, Iowa, discussing the time she met with Bhutto, the crowd could almost hear the Harry Nilsson tune "Best friend" — theme song to "Courtship of Eddie's Father" — playing softly in the background.

At least Hillary stopped short of saying that she was named after Benazir's father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (after all, you can't spell "Hillary" without using the letters in his name, and by borrowing a "y" from Mary Ann Shadd Cary).

Meanwhile, Hillary, along with John Edwards and Barack Obama, called on Pakistanis to be undeterred in their quest to bring democracy and freedom to their country.

And I sure hope Pakistan heeds that advice — as I'll need a free and democratic nation to move to in case Clinton, Edwards or Obama are elected and put the U.S. on an even faster track to becoming a socialist hog trough.

Here’s volume II of Chapin’s Inferno which is a series I just started doing. Essentially it is, and will be, a wandering cauldron of conservative analysis released over an indefinite period.
Here’s the link.
I have a feeling you guys will like this one. What I like about doing these is that I jump on different themes whenever I want to and hopefully reach people who don’t read at all–which is a large segment of the population.

Sorry, I just added the second one and don’t want to waste another post with it. Here’s the link:

Here's something that is just begging to be mocked:

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 27 (UPI) — Marvel Comics and the United Nations are teaming up to create comic books to show superheroes working with the agency to rid the world of conflict and disease.

Yes, that's right! Join the blue-helmeted stupor-heroes as they travel the world in Jimmy Carter's peanut submarine, working tirelessly to keep their headquarters in steady cash-flow by helping good and evil find common ground, ways to compromise, and, most importantly, the checkbook so they can all pay their U.N. dues.

U.N. Stupor-heroes will probably include the following:

The Compact Fluorescent Flash
Captain Anti-America
Iron Curtain Man
Batman and Robbin' (convincingly portrayed by Kofi Annan and his son)
Marvel's Appeasers
The Mighty Thor-azine
Captain Carbon Credit
SuperBan
The Green, Solar-Powered Lantern
And of course, The Human Torch — who came into existence as a result of global warming and is a member, along with Captain Carbon Credit, of the famed stupor-hero quartet, The Fantastic Gore. Travelling the world in his private, supersonic 727, The Human Torch battles gas-powered leaf blowers that are hell-bent on destroying the planet.

The Ministry of the Interior in Saudi Arabia runs a "rehabilitation program" for what CBC News describes as "extremists" — a word that I think is safe to change to its more precise meaning: Terrorists and would-be terrorists.

The "demographic" of the rehab facility is a term that has a "Cub-Scouts-meets-Al Qaeda" ring to it — "junior jihadis."

How do you go about reforming a Junior Jihadi? Here are a few of the 12-steps:

The rehabilitation program involves art therapy and attending religious education classes, psychological classes and reconnecting with family members.
[…]
Al Haer is equipped with what Mardini calls "mating rooms", for conjugal visits. They are furnished with double beds and comfortable chairs. Prisoners are allowed two 24-hour conjugal visits each month.

Arts, crafts, family connections, free psychological help and 48 hours of sex a month? If this doesn't make the JJ's have a new appreciation for us infidels — not to mention Congress — nothing will.

I guarantee you that somewhere in the United States there is, at this very moment, a liberal professor embedded deeply in a university office on some campus working diligently on study that will prove that terrorism isn't a choice, but rather a disease for which we must have more compassion for the afflicted parties.

Connecting the junior jihadi to positive influences is one of the keys in breaking the terrorism addiction, according to the Saudi Ministry of the Interior. Above we see a junior jihadi being put back on the path of righteousness thanks to the strong bond shared by family

Update: These rehab clinics are popping up too late to save the likes of Benazir Bhutto and at least 20 others. Bhutto assassinated in Pakistan.

Hillary has edged out Oprah for the title of "Most admired woman" in 2007.

In the Gallup poll, 18% admired Hillary so much that many of those respondents are currently out finding pudgy girls to go home and fellate their husbands just so they can emulate the forgiving nature of their hero.

President Bush was the "most admired man" on the list, which leads me to this passing question for pollsters: How can Bush's approval rating be constantly touted as hovering around 1.42% or some such number but yet he ends up being the most admired man? Did he "steal" another title? That darn Karl Rove continues to amaze, even after he's exited the White House.

Bad news for Oprah and Barack:

Barack Obama was the "most admired man" of 5% of those polled. Oprah was "most admired woman" of 16% of those polled. This means that, at most, 31% of those who chose Oprah as their "most admired woman" gave a damn about her spirited endorsement of Obama. If you don't take the advice of someone you so greatly admire, how much can you really admire them? I mean, come on!

Hillary breaks the bad news to John Edwards that, for the first time in ten years, he doesn't appear on the "Most Admired Woman" list

Boston's wildly more expensive sequel to "Waterworld," the trouble-plagued "Big Dig," is almost finished — at least until the next colossal structural failure.

The outcome was typical of almost every government project (by the way, the fastener company mentioned is no relation — at least I hope not):

BOSTON - When the clock runs out on 2007, Boston will quietly mark the end of one of the most tumultuous eras in the city's history: The Big Dig, the nation's most complex and costliest highway project, will officially come to an end.

Don't expect any champagne toasts.

After a history marked by engineering triumphs, tunnels leaks, epic traffic jams, last year's death of a motorist crushed by falling concrete panels and a price tag that soared from $2.6 billion to a staggering $14.8 billion, there's little appetite for celebration.

Civil and criminal cases stemming from the July 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse continue, though on Monday the family of Milena Del Valle announced a $6 million settlement with Powers Fasteners, the company that manufactured the epoxy blamed by investigators for the accident. Lawsuits are pending against other Big Dig contractors, and Powers Fasteners still faces a manslaughter indictment.

Heck, even uber-liberal Barney Frank said, before the project, that it would be cheaper to raise the city than lower the expressways.

That aside, is any of this surprising at all?

What's the difference between the "Big Dig" and any other big government project? The water. The "Big Dig", minus the water, would still be a failure, but nobody would notice as much because there wouldn't be the reminder eerily dripping through the walls.

Take any government program, such as Social Security, and pretend it's a tunnel under a river. Then, substitute water for accountability, common sense, reason, and fiscal prudence. Nobody in their right mind would drive through the thing.

Remove the water from the equation though, and nobody immediately notices the incompetence and inherent dangers… until the very structure collapses.

Remember, some of the same politicians who thought up The Big Dig are the same types of people who will be in charge of designing National Health Care. What could possibly go wrong?

The truth is, most government programs are "Big Digs" on a scale that makes the "Big Dig" look more like a "modest scoop."

Santa Claus may have checked his list to see who was naughty or nice before delivering Christmas presents, but for North Carolina’s politicos it’s not up to Saint Nick — it’s up to the voters.

While the political campaign teams claim their polling results show their candidates leading, according to the independent NCRepublicans.com, Fred Smith won their gubernatorial straw poll. The results show Smith 62.5%, Bob Orr 22.7%, and Bill Graham 14.8%.

However, internal polling by the Graham camp’s McLaughlin & Associates is being used to to declare Bill Graham, a practicing attorney, as “the clear frontrunner.” The McLaughlin & Associates poll claims Graham has a double-digit lead over his opponents who only score in the single digits.

Meanwhile, in a straw poll conducted during the Civitas Institute’s Conservative Leadership Conference, 34.8 percent of the 400-plus attendees favored Rudy Giuliani for President and 62 percent favored Fred Smith for Governor.

Twelve Republican presidential candidates were listed on the straw poll ballot. Rudi Giuliani came in first (34.8%), followed by Fred Thompson (23%), Newt Gingrich (14.2%), Mike Huckabee (8.4%), Mitt Romney (7.1%), Tom Tancredo (5.2%), Duncan Hunter (2.6%), Ron Paul (2.6%), Tommy Thompson (1%), John McCain (1%), Sam Brownback (0%) and Jim Gilmore (0%).

On the Republican gubernatorial straw poll ballot [three candidates were listed]:

Fred Smith (62%) [finished] first, followed by Bob Orr (24%) and Bill Graham (9%).The Conservative Leadership Conference is a two-day event conducted annually by the Civitas Institute to instruct and energize North Carolina conservatives.

Smith — a state senator, an entrepreneur and businessman — lays out his vision for North Carolina’s future on his campaign web site. Smith’s vision includes controlling government spending, reforming education, protecting private property rights, defending marriage between one man and one woman, protecting NC children with the strongest possible Jessica’s Law and bringing back integrity to state government.

Smith said he welcomes the continuing conversation with North Carolina’s citizens as his campaign moves forward. “I believe that North Carolina’s best days lie ahead — our challenge is to learn from those who came before and continue to work to make our state great,” he said.

While internal polling data by the Orr and Graham campaigns shows them leading, a recent Republican Party tracking poll shows otherwise:

Governor without McCrory:

Fred Smith 25%
Bill Graham 17%
Bob Orr 6%
Undecided 52%

Governor with McCrory:

Fred Smith 20%
Bill Graham 14%
Pat McCrory 14%
Bob Orr 4%
Undecided 47%

According to the pollsters, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory would start with a strong regional base but little statewide support if he got into the Republican race for Governor. The tracking poll, however bodes well for Sen. Smith with or without Mayor McGrory, but each of the NC gubernatorial tracking polls shows a significant number of undecided voters who may be ripe for the picking by a candidate who can fire up the potential voters.

Fred Smith’s rise in the polls coincides almost exactly with the launch of his Statewide BBQ tour, according to North Carolina political observer and blogger Lorie Byrd.

“He had 21 events across the state in August and September, then 23 during October alone. It’s not like hundreds of people are turning out to these things but it’s generating a lot of good small town press coverage and ingratiating him to party activists,” she said.

“During that time Bill Graham has done…well…not much unless I’m missing something. Smith really seems to be outworking Graham and it’s being reflected in the polls.”

By Special Guest Columnist Craig Cantoni

Pundits, political elites and common folk are now claiming the problems facing the country are obvious and easy to fix, if only we had the sense to elect someone who wants to fix them. Broadcasting star Glenn Beck said that very thing yesterday on his show.

A growing feeling of economic insecurity, widespread disgust with Congress, and disillusionment with George Bush have led many Americans to embrace the platitudes of Barack Obama, the sophistry of Hillary, the religiosity of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, the populism of John Edwards, the bully-bully of John “Teddy Roosevelt” McCain, the vacuity of Fred Thompson, the…

I have to stop before I get sick to my stomach.

Yes, indeed. If only we would elect an alpha male or beta female who cares about each and every one of us, partisan bickering would end, pork barrel spending would end, global competition would end, foreign interventionism would end, global warming would end, increases in the price of gas and healthcare would end, the invasion of brown people would end, radical Islam would end, and in-grown toenails would end.

But what about farm subsidies? Are they going to end? Well, no, not if someone wants to be elected president.

Then if a president is powerless to stop something as uncomplicated as farm subsidies, why would someone think that a candidate would be able to stop, well, anything putting Americans in a funk and feeling the nation is in decline?

Beats me. But I do know that the nation has been transformed into a kleptocracy under majority rule, or mob rule, if you will. Over half of Americans are now either mooching off the minority through the tax code, or working for the government, or working in private-sector jobs that owe their existence and good pay to government regulations.

They might complain about the other guy’s rice bowl, but they will do anything to protect their own rice bowl. The result, of course, is the status quo, and the farm bill. The status quo is a kleptocracy and ever-growing government.

These people all depend on force for their jobs, subsidies, entitlements and handouts.

For example, if it weren’t for farmers banding together to compel the government to give them taxpayers’ money, non-farmers would never hand their money to them.

Unfortunately, government force doesn’t work well in the other direction. As political science and economic principles explain, it is nearly impossible for citizens to band together, legally speaking, and get government to stop farmers (or any other organized special-interest group) from using force against them. If they can’t stop 2.1 million farmers, they certainly can’t stop 3 million unionized teachers, 35 million AARP members, or 48 million Social Security recipients.

Well, that’s not completely true. They can stop them, but it would require something that I don’t advocate: the use of extra-legal force. It would take only about 100,000 men and women marching on the Capitol with torches, pitchforks, feathers and hot tar to convince members of Congress that it is in their best interest to stop taking people’s silverware and giving it farmers, teacher unions, wealthy geezers, and other special interests. If it came to a choice between losing an election and being tarred and feathered, they’d pick losing.

Enough fantasy. Back to reality.

The reality is that the nation isn’t going to be brought together by Barack, Hillary, Mitt, Rudy, Mike, John, Fred, or anyone else. When government degenerates into a political spoils system as ours has, it is impossible for citizens to trust each other or their government.

It is astonishing and troubling that someone as smart as Glenn Beck doesn’t understand this.

An author and columnist, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.

The lamestream media told you:

Increasing prices for lead have led thieves to begin stealing roofs from medieval churches in England, reports Mary Jordan in the Washington Post. “Lead has jumped from $450 a ton five years ago to $3,200 this year, according to police and insurance-industry officials,” she says.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Even a completely green novice knows you get metal prices from people in the metal markets, or record books or databases, not from police and insurance agents. Using inadequate sources, a routine practice at the Washington Post and similar lamestream outlets, even if you get two of them as Ms. Jordan did, leads to he-said-she-said stories, instead of reported facts. Whether the police and insurance agents got their facts straight was not covered by the reporteress.

A quick online check of lead prices, which can vary dramatically even on a daily basis, shows an approximate price of $2,200/ton now and $400/ton five years ago, so the Post report was only off by a lot.

I'm a big fan of horrible movies — flicks that would make even Ed Wood himself wince in agony.

On Christmas and the days leading up to it, everybody shows movies like It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story, but hardly anybody ever shows gems like this.

Below is a 9:33 clip from the 1964 train wreck, "Santa Claus conquers the Martians," with running critique from the cast of classic program, Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Merry Christmas all!

Merry Christmas everybody. Sorry for the unusual amount of production this week. I think I’m going to have to start visiting my sister more often as I rarely get this much done in the course of two weeks. Such are the benefits of hanging around families with members who don’t drink or stay up late, lol.

At any rate, I’m starting up a new video series called Chapin’s Inferno that will be open-ended and concern general conservative and anti-PC topics. Here’s Volume I which concerns Barack Obama, the Democrats, and race. The audio and visual is poor but if I get a bit of space on the credit card next month I may buy a camcorder (a cheap one that is). Sorry for my lack of photogenic qualities. My mother’s in the other room and I’ll forward any complaints regarding that subject for her to answer.

The lamestream media told you:

“More than a million doses of a common vaccine given to babies as young as 2 months were being recalled because of contamination risks, but the top U.S. health officials said it was not a health threat,” according to a story circulated by the Associated Press.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Why a million doses of vaccine would be recalled if it was not a health threat was unexplained, and reporters failed to ask the top U.S. health official.

The AP did report that because of the “inconvenience,” the Merck production line will be shut down for nine months. “It’s likely that there’s going to be a shortage of this product,” a Merck spokeslady said. Shortages typically trigger price increases.

I got an email from Richard Doyle about a month ago and he asked me if I’d take a look at Save the Males. We had never spoken previously. I told him that I would but planned only on skimming it. After all, once I saw that the book was in its fifth printing I was a rather skeptical. I have found that most of the stuff from the seventies no longer is effective in public debate. It’s too easy for my radical opponents to say that the materials I cite are dated. I quickly discovered that my presumption was incorrect as Mr. Doyle has updated this work to a great extent. Many of the sources he cites (such as Steven Rhoads’ Taking Sex Differences Seriously) are recent and reflect a thorough reworking of the text.

Like many other plans, my thoughts about skimming it did not last for long. About 10 pages in I knew I would have to read every word. What Doyle offers up here is a meticulous, necessary, and intelligent account of the Fall of Man in western civilization. That women are transcendent over the direct sex, in the present era, is blatantly obvious. Society’s celebration of all things female has no correlation with reality. The subsequent “empowerment” of women is leading to the serfdom of men. The process of our decline has not been pretty and we can be certain that things are only going to get worse. This is not a fun read, but the effect it will have on your emotions is a testament to its accuracy.

Perhaps the best thing about Save the Males, and the strongest compliment I can give it, is that it is scholarship first and polemic second. That Doyle is outraged over what our culture has become is evident but his narrative lets the incidents speak on their own without any authorial SportsCenteresque exclamations. His detachment was essential and appreciated. It was also the reason why the book was a page turner. The examples of our criminal justice system’s misandric bias are legion. That our courts embrace chivalry justice is revealed here to an appalling extent. I have to say that there are not too many books out there which completely surprise me but Save the Males was one of them.

Today's column, a pre-Christmas special, at WorldNetDaily is about the energy bill that was just passed by the House of Reps. and signed by President Bush, which includes mandating that light bulbs be 70-percent more efficient by the year 2020.

This effectively bans ("outlaws") the traditional incandescent light bulb.

Saving energy is a good idea, but why is it a bad idea to mandate it into existence, and what's the real motive behind the ban? Read "From my cold, dead light socket" for the rest.

Click here to give it a "Digg."

Have a great Christmas Eve, everybody!

The lamestream media told you:

Reporting from New Delhi, Ashok Sharma of the AP says a conservation group says that saving the world’s tigers will cost $500 million per year, but that funding is only $5 million annually. The 12 countries where tigers live are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

How tigers survived before international demands for gigantic annual funding was not revealed in the AP report. The countries listed are among the most mismanaged, impoverished, underdeveloped or totalitarian on the face of the Earth. No linkage between these conditions and the presence of tigers is known. No guarantee that funding would reach the tigers was made. Tigers have no union representatives. Natives, from the tigers’ perspective, are food.

The report does indicate that poaching, “has savaged their populations,” but fails to connect $500 million in sought-after annual funding with the arrests and detention of poachers. If distributed equally, $500 million annually could buy every poacher in the area a small yacht, two cars, a mansion and a lifetime supply of food.

The lamestream media told you:

The new energy bill passed by Congress and signed by President Bush will eliminate inefficient incandescent light bulbs, create corn-made bio-fuel mixtures for 35 MPG cars, show greenhouse-gas emissions labels on vehicles, make expensive-to-buy but cheap-to-operate energy-efficient appliances, and add geothermal and other alternative energy sources in the next decade or two. The world will be a more efficient, greener and better place with the wonderful new government guidance.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

With a single headline and less than half a page of news, the national media “reported” on the new congressional energy bill. The bill contains 822 pages of new federal law, and was totally supported by the high spending and so-called low spending parties.

The effect of everything but the few items summarized above was omitted. Tax-funded spending increases are sprinkled liberally throughout the entire package but only purchasable product and service changes were mentioned. Lawyers and federal compliance professionals were ecstatic over the new job-security measures, added costs and cash handouts the bill mandates.

Since the 822 pages of nearly indecipherable legalese are available on line, there was no need to report on them, according to standard media policy. The 3-digit number of the bill, HR 6, which would make finding it easy, is a mere technicality and was not included. The 600 lines in the bill’s table of contents includes more than 200 new grants, loans, programs, agencies, fees, departments, studies, preferences and other expansions of government in the name of efficiency, also not reported. The cost for the thousands of new federal requirements is unknown.

Democrats’ unsubstantiated bragging about eliminating “the famously inefficient incandescent light bulb,” was unquestioningly carried by every “news” outlet. This somehow overlooked the stunning work done by a dead white guy to invent the bulb, which until now was considered a miracle.

The electric lightbulb brought the entire human race out of abject darkness and the dangerous truly inefficient “filthy burnt-stuff lighting” humans had suffered with since the dawn of civilization. Prior to the easily swallowed Democrat revision of history, the Edison light bulb had received unmitigated praise in classrooms and societies globally.

Enforcement of the thousands of new requirements, if necessary, will be handled in the usual manner — by heavily armed federal agents.

We now know the answer to that question, with the help of Steven Milloy's latest "Junk science" story on provisions in the new energy law:

First, the law requires auto fuel efficiency standards to increase by 40 percent by 2020. Unfortunately, this goal is presently only achievable by reducing vehicle weight — but lighter cars are deadlier cars. So what’s the purported benefit of mandating 4,000 or more deaths per year?

The law’s supporters claim that it may reduce national oil consumption by about 5 percent (400 million barrels of oil per year). Doing the math, your life is now worth about 100,000 barrels of oil. In touting the law, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “it is an environmental issue, and therefore a health issue… it is an energy issue, and it is a moral issue.”

A barrel of petrolium is currently priced at about $93. This means our lives are worth about $9.3 million to the government. Not bad, really, though I have a feeling this is an incredibly high estimate — especially if you're a conservative.

It's amazing what constitutes a "moral" issue for liberals. Nancy Pelosi and Al Gore expect us to consider the murder of the unborn a celebrated "choice" to which we should be desensitized, but at the same time we're supposed to fall into a moral freakout because the friggin' temperature went up .6 degrees?

Until the day that Hustler publisher Larry Flynt is wheeled down the handicapped entrance ramp to Hotel Hades, he's determined to "out" as many gay Congressional Republicans as possible.

According to this Vanity Fair story, Flynt has the goods on another Senator:

The ripest target now, Flynt claims, is a closeted gay Republican senator who is not Larry Craig, though last spring Flynt's investigators were also pursuing rumors about Craig, going as far as putting a surveillance team on him, before his arrest in June for allegedly soliciting sex in a mens room at the Minneapolis airport.

"The other shoe's going to drop any day," Flynt says, speaking of the other senator. "It'll surprise a lot of people that he's gay. And I'll bet you he resigns the same day and rides off into the sunset. He won't be as stupid as Craig… His boyfriend is in a quandary about selling him out. It's really somewhat of a pathetic situation. But we also have other boyfriends that he's been involved with… We got some motel records. We got some photographs. They don't involve sex, but sort of romantic walks on the beach and that sort of thing."

I hope it's Norm Coleman from Minnesota. That way, going into his Senate race against Al Franken, the Republican might steal a few votes from left-of-center undecideds in the Gopher state.

Keep your fingers crossed!

The lamestream media told you:

The Senate backed a new plan to require automobile manufacturers to produce cars that get an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, an increase of 10 MPG over current averages, according to the AP in an unbylined story.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Experts poring over the U.S. Constitution today were unable to find any delegated authority that allows Congress to regulate an entire industry’s product line, despite the Senate’s decision recently to do so.

“If they can do this to the gigantic and powerful car makers, just imagine what it means for the little guy,” said one scholar, who refused to be named for fear of reprisals. “Congress didn’t use a specific excuse this time, but if they can do this to save the planet, change the atmosphere, centrally manage production or control private enterprise, is there anything they can’t do?”

According to another highly placed source, also speaking on condition of anonymity, “The Constitution no longer constrains Congress,” implying that the golden era of “government of limited powers,” is dead. Experts differed on whether this matters.

The lamestream media told you:

Referring to the Colorado Springs, Colo., ban on semiautomatic handguns for private security guards, Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence (formerly the National Council to Ban Handguns), said, “We allow ordinary citizens to carry these things around. Why we do that, I don’t know.” Helmke was interviewed by DeeDee Correll of the L.A. Times, following the death of a mass murderer shot by civilian volunteer Jeanne Assam, during a felony assault in a church.

Official security guards in the city, under “an attached policy” not part of the ordinance, are limited to revolvers in .38 and .357 calibers. Assam, a private CCW-permit holder, used an unspecified 9mm sidearm in the successful defense of the hundreds of congregants at the church.

Despite being named a security guard by lamestream outlets, she was not charged with carrying the wrong kind of gun, probably because, well, she’s not a security guard. No correction has been issued.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

In a startling admission to one of the nation’s largest lamestream papers, Paul Helmke, the man in charge of highly funded coordinated efforts to end the civil right to arms and disarm innocent Americans, admitted he didn’t know what normal semiautomatic sidearms are for.

To clarify, the reason American citizens “carry these things around,” is for personal safety, to protect the sanctity of life, to deter criminals, to defend against criminals, to assist others attacked by criminals as Jeanne Assam heroically did, plus for all the reasons we give firearms to the police and other authorities, and because as a natural, historic and constitutionally guaranteed right of free people, there are no legitimate grounds to forbid such private property to the public.