Tuesday's quick links

A few article to read on a Tuesday:

A Vietnam combat veteran and father of a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom takes Congressman "Cut and Run" Murtha to task for calling this George Bush's war and gives him a history lesson to boot.

But, it is not Congress' war, either. When Congress voted to authorize the war and the commander-in-chief gave the order to initiate it, it became our war. Ours: yours, mine, the country's. Our war, sir, not George Bush's.

You are wrong, too, about history - past and future. You were referring, of course, to the Iraq "war." However, history tells us that this is one battle in a larger war against radical, fascist Islamic fundamentalists who seek to conquer.

Do you know your history, sir?

Do you listen to what our enemies say?

Listen, they will tell you: They seek to restore Islamic rule and sharia law over that portion of the world that they regard as historically "theirs."

They mean not only the Mideast, but northern Africa, central Asia - and even Spain.

Then, they seek to expand that rule by imposing the same regime on any country where there is a significant Muslim population, anytime. They mean Europe, Nigeria - keep your eye on Nigeria, congressman, it is already happening in that most populous country of Africa - and, yes, the United States.

As if Cynthia McKinney didn't have enough trouble with her assault of a police officer, now we get word that she used government money earmarked for office supplies to fly some entertainer in for a PR event. You could cut in half operating budgets for all government offices and no one would notice except those who are used to wasting the funds.

Mike Tyson is apparently a big fan of Chairman Mao the deceased former leader of Communist China. No punch line necessary.

If only Clinton had been a Republican is the title of a column by Burt Prelutsky which wonders how the media would have handled some of Clinton's actions if he had been a Republican.

I’m still not sure if it was a good idea or a bad one to allow the United Arab Emirates to manage those installations on the east coast. But I’m awfully curious why some of those same people who wanted Bush’s head on a pike weren’t the least bit upset when, during Clinton’s reign, Communist China was granted the authority to manage ports on the west coast. So far as I’m concerned, anybody who believes we have more to fear from Dubai than from Beijing needs a brain transplant.

It was only after Saddam Hussein bought off several nations with his oil-for-food scam, and ignored a kazillion U.N. resolutions, that Bush invaded Iraq. Immediately, the cry went up that he didn’t have a coalition. Afterwards, the complaint was that he lacked an exit strategy. Odd that nobody said “boo” when Clinton unilaterally invaded Somalia; odder still that when he sent troops to Kosovo, promising they’d be home within a year, nobody took him to task when, a few years later, when he left the Oval Office, our forces were still there. That’s some exit strategy.

His liberal critics accuse Bush of being in bed with Halliburton, but Halliburton, you should be aware, did just fine in the 90s when Clinton was minding the store.

Prelutsky also looks at this different way the two presidents are regarded in matters of race relations.

There’s one last thing about Clinton. We keep hearing that he was the first black president. Aside from the fact that he and that other serial adulterer, Jesse Jackson, allegedly prayed together when they were both caught tom-catting around, what made Clinton so darn black? Heck, taking his lead from Congress, he even revamped welfare and tried to get recipients weaned off the federal teat. If Clinton had been a Republican, the Black Caucus would have stormed the White House with torches and pitchforks. Aside from Jackson, the only black person Clinton seemed to hang around with was Vernon Jordan.

But I never was able to get a handle on what made Clinton blacker than, say, George W. Bush. It’s Bush, after all, who has appointed Colin Powell and Condi Rice to the highest positions in his cabinet. You would think that would count for something with the left, especially with one of them being a woman.

So what made Clinton so black? That he spoke with a southern accent, played a musical instrument, came from a dysfunctional family, and was blatantly promiscuous?

If that sounds racist, don’t blame me. I never regarded Clinton as a credit to any race -- black, white or human.

Ouch.


Here is an article about President Bush visiting Cincinnati yesterday to throw out the first pitch of the season for the Reds. They should have left him in to pitch to the Cubs.