Ol' BC Cruisin Next Week

There will be no blogging next week as I will be on vacation. No telling what tomorrow may bring.

Iraqi Vote Prompts Audit - Easy To See Why

This is really quite easy to grasp. Reports of fraud in the Iraqi constitutional referendum are prompted by an unusually high voter turnout and an overwhelming "yes" vote. This will undoubtedly unnerve the left in this country.

“Statements coming from most provinces indicating such high numbers ... require
us to recheck, compare and audit them, as they are unusually high according to
the international standards,” the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said
in a statement.

An official with knowledge of the election process said
that in some areas the “yes” to “no” ratio seemed unusual. The official
cautioned that it was too early to say whether the figures were incorrect or
what caused the unexpected ratio.

This MSNBC article seems perplexed by the whole situation. Here's a clue - those people have been beaten down and abused for so long that when they get a chance at some form of democracy they will jump at it. What is more telling is the large number of Sunni "yes" votes. You see, when they get in the voting booth, all by themselves, they can vote their true desire. Nobody will know for sure. Nobody is " watching over your shoulder" for the first time in most of their lives. What we're finding out is that some form of freedom is overwhelmingly preferred by the Iraqis in spite of what the U.S. media would like you to believe.

Just an observation.

Soldier Calls Out Media Falsehood.

While doing some blog surfing I came across this post at littlegreenfootballs. It contains a blog from Sgt Ron Long who was one of the soldiers in the Q & A with the President. Long pulls no punches in his opinion of the mainstream media.

Yesterday, I was chosen to be among a small group of soldiers assigned to
the 42ID’s Task Force Liberty that would speak to President Bush, our
Commander-in-Chief. The interview went well, but I would like to respond to what
most of the mass-media has dubbed as, “A Staged Event.”

This post isn't real lengthy. Take a minute and read it. Sgt. Long's take is a little different than that normally heard here in the U.S. Actually, it's quite refreshing.

Just an observation.

Russia, China To Stage War Games

Russia and China are planning a big military show consisting of eight days of exercises. The show is being called Peace Mission 2005. This Bill Gertz article describes the venture quite well.

"For the Chinese and the Russians, this is a message to the United
States," one U.S. official said. "They want to see our bases in Central Asia and
presence in Asia cut back."

This has somewhat of a cold war feel to it plus the addition of China to the exercises.

Ol' BC can't help but wonder if the respective economies of Russia and China have progressed to the point where they can now feed and clothe their people. The last report I saw on Russia was pretty depressing. I personally know a few people who have been there and food has always been mentioned as in short supply. I don't know what it costs to run air and sea practice missions, but it can't be cheap.

Just a thought.

Sunnis Get On Bandwagon For Constitution

A compromise agreement evidently has been reached that enables the Sunnis to endorse the new Iraqi constitution. This should pretty much assure its ratification by the populace.

This must really sting those who continually harp that all is wrong in Iraq. First elections that are widely supported and now a consensus approval of a constitution among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

Maybe things aren't as gloomy over there as the media might have you believe.

Just a thought.

On Felons And Voting - Sexist? Racist?

The old adage goes "don't do the crime if you can't do the time." Well, part of the "time" is forfeiting your voting rights in most states as well as your right to own firearms. Now, we're seeing some carping and whining about these laws being racist. Ol' BC has a little trouble making that connection. This article discusses such laws.

The disproportionate impact on African Americans is not a reason to repeal
the laws, he says, drawing an analogy: "A disproportionate number of crimes are
committed by men, not women, but I don’t think that makes the laws
sexist."

Let's not get too logical here. The left has long called many things they don't care for "racist." This is just another example. Ol' BC understands that the election of 2000 is behind much of this movement.

But race became an issue after the 2000 election turmoil in Florida, where
about 600,000 adults, by far the largest number in the country, are barred from
voting by the state's felon disenfranchisement law. More than one-quarter of
those excluded were African American.

"More than one quarter" were African American. What about the other three-quarters?

Just a thought.

Angela Merkel Set To Be Chancellor

All indications are that Angela Merkel has hammered out a deal with opposing parties in order to become Germany's first female chancellor, according to this MSNBC article. Ol' BC finds this somewhat interesting as Merkel has expressed desires to improve German - U.S. relations. This in a direct contradiction to former Chancellor Schroeder. What could make things difficult is Merkel's deal allows Schroeder's party to hold a majority of the Cabinet posts. Stay tuned as this could be a really good turn of events....or it could be a major mess due to Cabinet politics.

Just a thought.

Have You Noticed...

...even though it may be hard to believe, that the wild eyed left has suddenly started referring to aborted fetuses as "babies" when it augments their argument? Their argument of course is their rant on Bill Bennett's radio show comment that has been beat to death in the main stream media. Dig this -

Now, many of you probably know all of this so far. But some probably do not
because you've heard about this second hand. And Democrats and many liberals
have been trying to distort what Bennett said. Former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe:
"The point he was trying to make, I guess, he said, you know, if you were to go
out there and kill the black babies, the crime would go down." Ted Kennedy and a
predictably long list of others have called him a racist. Radio host Ed Schultz
said: Bennett is "out there advocating the murder of all black babies."

Suddenly, as is pointed out in Goldberg's column , these pro choice sorts who argue that a mass of cells don't constitute a baby suddenly are referring to them as "babies" when it aids their argument.

They also tend to forget to mention that Bennett is a pro lifer and wouldn't condone this practice in any case. Of course, Admiral Kennedy of the SS Oldsmobile weighed in with the rest of the left, calling Bennett racist.

I guess Goldberg nails it when he says,

Which raises the point missed by so many Bennett detractors, often
deliberately. His argument wasn't about race at all. His point was to discourage
even pro-lifers from demeaning the cause by making abortion into an acceptable
governmental tool for social policy.

Bennett's real mistake was in thinking people would be mature enough to get
it.

Just an observation.

Benny Got A Brand New Car

Apparently, BMW didn't think favorably of Pope Benedict XVI tooling around in a 1999 Mercedes Benz. They handed him the keys to a new BMW X 5 SUV according to this MSNBC article.

The well-known "Popemobile" by comparison is a modified M-Class SUV built
in 1999 by BMW's arch rival Mercedes-Benz.

All indications are it will remain the "Popemobile."

Ol' BC wonders if there will be protests against the Pope having an SUV, given the fuel consumption tendency of those vehicles. The environmentalists could be gathering as I type.

Just a thought.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

While finally having time to read some other blogs, I came across this at evilwhiteguy.

Just an observation.

One Thing I Like About Bush...

...is that he normally does what he says he'll do. He said he was going to send a boatload of money to Africa and he did. He said he was going to aggressively fight the war on terror and he has. He said he was going to throw money at education and he has. He said he was going to cut taxes and he did (although it wasn't nearly enough). He said he was going to push for socialist security reform and he did for a while. He didn't do a real good job of conveying the advantages to the working poor and lower middle class, but he tried. He said he was going to appoint conservative justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas..........and the jury is still out. He undoubtedly knows Roberts and Miers better than I. I only hope his trend of doing what he says continues. Past performance can be an indicator of future actions. Let's hope so.

Just a thought.

Harriet Miers - Another Stealth Nominee?

It will be interesting to watch the Democrats fillibuster a nominee to has never been on the bench. Then again, maybe the Republicans should. Could we have another David Souter?
We can't afford that.

Just a thought.

Bush Not Conservative - Coulter Concurs

From the beginning, Ol' BC has carped and whined and wondered why the MSM has such hatred for Dubya. He spends money like there is no tomorrow. Not just on defense, but on social programs and foreign aid as well.

Ann Coulter points out that he tends to endorse the more liberal Republican candidate when there is a choice on many occasions - Riordan over Simon, Specter over Toomey, Martinez over Harris and now Chafee over Laffey.

Here's why all of this is so important. He has yet to nominate Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement. This is a huge nominee for this country. Roberts is too new to rate. Hopefully he will live up to his billing. Bush cannot afford to avoid a fight in the Senate. He has to have the backbone to nominate a good constitutional respecting conservative. Quit worrying about the abortion issue and pick a good nominee. The abortion issue belongs with the state. The Commerce Clause has been stretched and manipulated and needs to be reigned in. This is far more important to us as a country than Roe.

Let's hope Bush doesn't drop the ball. This nomination is far too important.

Just a thought.

Alternative To FEMA?

Colonel Hogan thinks there is. Are you ready for this? Insurance! What a novel idea if you live in a disaster prone area.

If the worst happens, and you lose your house and its contents to one of
these, you may lose your baby pictures and your best copy of Atlas Shrugged, but
at least there'll be a payout to help you get a new start (with FEMA, that's not
nearly as certain!) . And, in the absence of the above-mentioned confiscatory
taxation, it'd be far more likely you'd be able to afford good insurance.Also,
observe that during the recent tribulations, affected victims sit on their
flood-soaked front stoops and whine to media reporters about how nobody helped
them. The mayor was busy chasing news cameras to whimper into, the governor was
making sure no federal empty suit took over her national guard. FEMA set up road
blocks to make sure nobody provided help before they could. At least, with your
insurance broker, you're just dealing with one guy, and you get to pick the
guy.You have the relative certainty of knowing that when that emergency happens,
you're on your own and that you, on your own, having planned for as many
contingencies as possible, have given yourself the best chance possible of
survival. Compare that with sitting on the stoop and hoping FEMA will come along
and help!

I think it sounds like a really good idea. Insurance.

Just a thought.