Zogby Poll: McCAIN OVER OBAMA 48 - 47

Incredible! McCain has moved into a statistically insignificant lead over Obama, 48-47, per the Zogby Poll (according to the Drudge Report). Is it all coming apart, Obama?

ZOGBY SATURDAY: Republican John McCain has pulled back within the margin of error... McCain outpolled Obama 48% to 47% in Friday, one day, polling. He is beginning to cut into Obama's lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters.

The polls have been all over the map. I am convinced that all political polls are being taken by hippies high on hemp. (Oh that's a bit retro. Would you believe mystical moobats on Meth? Hopped-up hillbillies on Hooch'? KOS kids on Crack?)

It just goes to show that the polls are not to be believed and should be profoundly ignored. Except, maybe, when they show McCain winning!

Seriously, the Zogby poll may indicate that McCain's internal polling was correct after all, e.g. that the race is too close to call. This certainly lends credence to that view.

Could my good friend Kate from France be right? Could UNV blog have been correct all along about a pending McCain victory? Could the golden light of the sun be breaking through the gray clouds? Are those meadowlarks singing? Children laughing? Flowers blooming?

Probably not. But let's, for the sake of argument, assume that Zogby is right and get our butts to the polls on November 4. WE HAVE A CHANCE!!

Karl Rove's Advice on Polls: Ignore Them

Karl Rove, writing at the Wall Street Journal ("Don't Let the Polls Affect Your Vote"), says polls (the kind that predict the vote) are not nearly as precise as most people think. Also, polls can depress the vote and did so in the election of 2000. That's when CNN, based on exit polls, falsely declared that Al Gore had won Florida and voting there was now closed, but the voting booths in the panhandle (a Republican stronghold) were still open for another hour.

Many Republicans, thinking that (1) voting was closed and (2) that Gore had already won, didn't bother to show up to vote. Why would they? Had this erroneous information not been released, perhaps the close Florida vote would not have been such a cliff-hanger.

Read it all here.

However, since the opinion polls are moving in our direction, let's not completely ignore them!

Polls Continue to Tighten: Nail-Biting Time for Obama

Over the past two weeks the polls have continued to tighten and are now within 2 to 3 points. Something is happening out there, and it isn't good news for Barack Obama.

Keep the faith, baby. And vote, vote, vote!

AP Pans Obama's Infomercial

The Associated Press is generally considered "in the tank" for Obama. However, in a "when pigs fly" moment, the AP has ripped Obama's infomercial tonight, saying that "it skips over budget realities." The article lists Obama's "spin" points and then rebuts them.

This has got be bad news for Obama. Read it all here.

Hat tip to the Corner.

McCain's Internal Polling Shows Race "Too Close to Call"

The McCain campaign says it has reason to be hopeful for the vote next Tuesday. Internal polling shows the race too close to call, with soft Democrats and women swinging back to the GOP.

Read it all here.

AOL Online Poll Shows McCain Overwhelming Victory Over Obama

My older brother directed me to the weekly AOL Straw Poll on the presidential election, which has consistenly shown McCain winning overwhelmingly over Obama. Bro thinks this shows that the other polls are wrong, skewed and biased. I hope he's right.

However, online polls are not statistical or scientific, so I have to reserve some doubt as to its accuracy.

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Nevertheless, you'd think it would be closer than this.

Check it out.

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Click on graphic at left to see the current state of this poll.

The Super Dooper Qualifications of Barack "The Spreader" Obama

I received this from a friend. Graphic courtesy of No Sheeples Here blog.

Think you know who Obama is and what he's all about? Consider how much he's hiding about his past and his accomplishments.

1. Occidental College records -- Not released

2. Columbia College records -- Not released

3. Columbia Thesis paper -- not available, locked down by faculty

4. Harvard College records -- Not released, locked down by faculty

5. Selective Service Registration -- Not released

6. Medical records -- Not released

7. Illinois State Senate schedule -- 'not available'

8. Law practice client list -- Not released

9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate - - Not released

10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth -- Not released

11. Harvard Law Review articles published -- None

12. University of Chicago scholarly articles -- None

13. Record of baptism-- Not released or 'not available'

14. Illinois State Senate records--'not available'

You couldn't get a job at McDonalds and become district manager after 143 days of experience. You couldn't become chief of surgery after 143 days of experience of being a surgeon. You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the superintendent after 143 days of experience. You couldn't join the military and become a colonel after 143 days of experience. You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the nightly news anchor after 143 days of experience. BUT.... 'From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate.

That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World .... 143 days. We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good start, but after 143 days, that's all it is - a start. AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public is okay with this and campaigning for him. We wouldn't accept this in our own line of work, yet some are okay with this for the President of the United States of America ?

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If you're voting for Barack Obama, you really need to seriously reconsider such a dumb and destructive act.

The Young John McCain

Reader Larry Bovshow sent this picture in of a young John McCain. I edited it a bit with Photoshop to repair some damage.

Melanie Phillips on the Coming Disaster of an Obama Administration

Melanie Phillips is a British newspaper columnist and author who is dismayed at the prospect of an Obama presidency. She writes

...the prospect of an Obama presidency is giving so many people nightmares. This is the fear that, if he wins, US defences will be emasculated at a time of unprecedented international peril and the enemies of America and the free world will seize their opportunity to destroy the west.

As I have said before, I do not trust McCain; I think his judgment is erratic and impetuous, and sometimes wrong. But on the big picture, he gets it. He will defend America and the free world whereas Obama will undermine them and aid their enemies.

Here’s why. McCain believes in protecting and defending America as it is. Obama tells the world he is ashamed of America and wants to change it into something else. McCain stands for American exceptionalism, the belief that American values are superior to tyrannies. Obama stands for the expiation of America’s original sin in oppressing black people, the third world and the poor.

Obama thinks world conflicts are basically the west’s fault, and so it must right the injustices it has inflicted. That’s why he believes in ‘soft power’ — diplomacy, aid, rectifying ‘grievances’ (thus legitimising them, encouraging terror and promoting injustice) and resolving conflict by talking. As a result, he will take an axe to America’s defences at the very time when they need to be built up. He has said he will ‘cut investments in unproven missile defense systems’; he will ‘not weaponize space’; he will ‘slow our development of future combat systems’; and he will also ‘not develop nuclear weapons,’ pledging to seek ‘deep cuts’ in America’s arsenal,thus unilaterally disabling its nuclear deterrent as Russia and China engage in massive military buildups.

Read it all here.

Now we know what Joe Biden was talking about when he said Obama's election will lead to an international crisis within six months.

Photoshopping the War Dead: Stogie Retouches Another Sailor Pic

Yesterday I heard that Photoshop CS4 has just been released for sale. I immediately went online, paid $200 for the upgrade, and downloaded it. I just hope my wife doesn't check our bank statement for awhile - but I had to have it. There's two things a man needs in this old world, a stash of good cigars and the latest version of Photoshop. That philosophy has served me well and I'm not about to change.

CS4 is very cool and even easier to use that CS3. I went to oneternalpatrol.com and downloaded another sailor's picture in need of some work. This time I chose that of a very handsome guy (we have so much in common) named John Joseph Carano. Carano was from Akron, Ohio and was killed on November 7, 1944 when his sub, the SS Albacore, hit a mine off Northern Japan. He was only 18 years old.

Carano is wearing an old-style Navy hat. These hats were all wool, Navy blue and had a black ribbon that ran around the base with gold lettering that said "U.S. NAVY." These were winter wear hats; the white dixiecup hats were used in the summer and are now used exclusively.

I wanted to buy one of these blue sailor hats for a souvenir and to use as a model for Photoshopping sailor pics, but I couldn't find anywhere I could buy one -- not even a reproduction. But I found one on E-Bay and bought it very cheap, along with the sailor's uniform who owned it.

I've put a higher quality photo of another sailor on this post as well (see bottom photo), a sailor named Boo who died on the SS Grunion so you can see what these hats looked like. I think they were quite handsome.

.Update: I did some online research and learned that these hats were officially known as "flat hats" and unofficially as "Donald Duck" or "Cracker Jack" hats, as Donald Duck wore one and one was featured on the Cracker Jack box. They originated in the Civil War and for years bore the name of the ship on which the wearer served. In 1941 the Navy realized that it was stupid to advertise the whereabouts of their ships, so all hat ribbons were changed to simply bear the name "U.S. NAVY." The hat was phased out in 1963 due to a lack of materials for construction.

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Currently the U.S. Navy plans to replace its traditional blues and whites for a common-looking khaki uniform that resembles that of the Army. The white dixiecup hats will be replaced with garrison hats. The last time they messed with the Navy uniform it was devastating to morale (in the 1970's) and they changed back to the traditional Cracker Jack uniform in 1983. But the brass hats never learn. The traditional Navy uniform has made the American sailor unique and a stand-out in his appearance and has added to the mystique of the U.S. Navy. Let's hope they don't make the same stupid mistake again.

I found a couple of Militaria sites online that sell the Donald Duck hat and I ordered a second one. I guess I had better buy a dixiecup too, while I still can.

Maybe the Obamunists are right: our best times really are behind us.

Prominent French Blog Predicts a McCain Victory

Our good friends at Une Vision Neoconervatrice have gone out on a limb and predicted a McCain victory. Their post, Le blog UVN prédit une victoire de John McCain, says "The game isn't over and Obama can still be beaten by John McCain." UVN cites a number of reasons for optimism, e.g. the fact that 11% of the voters are still undecided and will only make their opinions known in the privacy of the voting booth.

I hope they are right. UVN is a great blog. Here's how they describe their philosophy:

Le néoconservatisme, c’est l’amour de la liberté, de la démocratie, le choix d’une économie libérale, le soutien à Israël, la vigilance à l’égard de l’islamisme, l’amitié pour les USA et la conscience que depuis le 11/09/01 nous sommes en guerre.

Translation: Neoconservatism is the love of liberty and democracy, the choice of a free economy, support for Israel, vigilance in the face of militant Islam, friendship for the United States and the knowledge that, since 9/11/01, we are at war.

You gotta love these free French. They are already living in a post-Obama type of country and they have not lost hope nor given up the fight. Neither should we.

Saturday Night Live: Joe Biden & John Murtha in PA

SNL is too often a bastion of liberal thought. However, once in a while, in spite of themselves, they stumble onto some very funny truths. Last night's opening skit features John Murtha making an ass of himself by insulting his own constituents, and Joe Biden warning of the international crisis after an Obama win.

Watch it and enjoy. We all could use a laugh about now.

With the Coming of Barack Obama, America is Over

Mark Levin, "the Great One," has written a great obituary for America at the Corner tonight. He calls it "The Obama Temptation." He finds it amazing that so many Americans, including some conservatives, have fallen under the spell of Barack Obama. He writes:

I sense what's occurring in this election is a recklessness and abandonment of rationality that has preceded the voluntary surrender of liberty and security in other places. I can't help but observe that even some conservatives are caught in the moment as their attempts at explaining their support for Barack Obama are unpersuasive and even illogical.

Mark Levin finds it frightening that so many Americans could be swayed by Obama.

But beyond the elites and the media, my greatest concern is whether this election will show a majority of the voters susceptible to the appeal of a charismatic demagogue. This may seem a harsh term to some, and no doubt will to Obama supporters, but it is a perfectly appropriate characterization. Obama's entire campaign is built on class warfare and human envy. The "change" he peddles is not new. We've seen it before. It is change that diminishes individual liberty for the soft authoritarianism of socialism. It is a populist appeal that disguises government mandated wealth redistribution as tax cuts for the middle class, falsely blames capitalism for the social policies and government corruption (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that led to the current turmoil in our financial markets, fuels contempt for commerce and trade by stigmatizing those who run successful small and large businesses, and exploits human imperfection as a justification for a massive expansion of centralized government.

Will America survive Barack Obama? Levin says it will, but "it will do so, in many respects, as a different place."

Read it all here.

Obama's Credit Card Fraud is Real

A few days ago, a McCain supporter made three donations to the Obama campaign using fake names and addresses, all with the same credit card. He wanted to see if the Obama online credit card interface would accept donations from phony sources. All three of his contributions were accepted, indicating that all security measures had been disabled on the Obama site, allowing it to accept fraudulent or multiple donations from the same source.

Oh, but wait, the Obama campaign exclaimed! It may appear that the Obama site accepted these donations, but it's just an illusion! The security system will detect these illegal donations and stop the transactions before any money leaves the donor's acount.

Baloney. The donor reports today at the Corner that all three donations were charged to his bank and have left his account. Read it all here.

Happy Halloween

This was sent in by Larry Bovshow in Los Angeles. Thanks Larry!

The Declaration of Dependence

Mark Steyn's essay today at National Review shows what we can expect from an Obama presidency that is supported by a liberal supermajority in Congress: the end of America as we know it. He quotes Thomas Sowell, saying that it is "the point of no return." Obama's win will be transformative, and deadly, to American exceptionalism, vitality and power. He writes:

I think Obama will be content to be King Barack the Benign, Spreader of Wealth and Healer of Planets. His rise is, in many ways, testament to the persistence of the monarchical urge even in a two-century old republic. So the “Now what?” questions will be answered by others, beginning with the liberal supermajority in Congress. And as he has done all his life he will take the path of least resistance. An Obama Administration will pitch America toward EU domestic policy and UN foreign policy. Thomas Sowell is right: It would be a “point of no return”, the most explicit repudiation of the animating principles of America. For a vigilant republic of limited government and self-reliant citizens, it would be a Declaration of Dependence.

Read it all here.

A Second Poll Shows a 1 Point Race

According to Newsmax, a second poll to the AP Poll shows the presidential race a dead heat. The Investor's Business Daily tracking poll (IBD/TIPP) shows Obama leading McCain by just 1 point. This comes a day after the AP Poll released identical findings.

An analysis of Final Certified Results for the 2004 election showed IBD's polling partner, TIPP, was the most accurate pollster of the campaign season. Learn more at http://www.tipponline.com/.

There is evidence now that Obama's runaway victory is something of a mirage.

See more about this poll here.

Why the Media Are So Flagrantly Biased

An epiphany!

Michelle Malkin has a post that says the New York Times is nearing "junk bond" status in its credit rating. The leftwing rag is losing money and failing. Malkin foresees a "bail out plea" from the Times, and suddenly it all makes sense. Or so says Mark Steyn.

He writes at the Corner:

The reason the press are going to such shameless lengths to drag Obama across the finish line is because he's their last best hope at restoring the old media environment, including a new Unfairness Doctrine for radio, and regulation of the Internet. The Obama's-already-won-give-it-up-you-GOP-losers stories are intended only to demoralize turnout. Bear in mind, that round about 5pm Eastern on Election Day, they'll be doing those stories at industrial strength, in order to clobber any Republican voters still dumb enough to think it's worth making the trip to the polls.

I get it! The mainstream media are failing financially and want to wipe out the competition, i.e. conservative talk radio and the internet. Their only hope for accomplishing that is to get Obama elected. This election is more than a political preference for them, it is about their long-term economic survival.

I don't feel sorry for the bastards. By creating a monopoly on opinion for so many years, they assured the arise of the competition that is now threatening them. But it does explain why the MSM has become so unprofessional, openly biased and Machiavellian in their reporting. They're desperate. Be sure and vote Republican and help them into their well deserved bankruptcy.

Ask Any Democrat: Politics is War by Other Means

There are all kinds of nasty but true stories circulating on the net today, about how Obama and the Democrats are stealing this election through illegal and unethical means.

First, Obama has received and is still receiving millions of dollars in illegal contributions, both domestic and foreign. See Powerline's article today, "Who Is John Galt?" Obama's website accepts all kinds of suspicious donations from fictitious persons without matching the donor's name to the credit card number given. McCain's website does it legally and will not accept such donations. Obama is breaking the law and McCain is abiding by it.

No one will do anything about it. When Democrats do illegal and unethical things, it's just fine. Laws only apply to Republicans.

Second, the mainstream media is in the midst of a long, slanderous and negative propaganda effort against John McCain. Pew Research Center shows that for the past several weeks, media coverage of McCain has been largely negative while providing positive coverage of Obama. See graph at right.

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Yesterday, CNN ambushed Sarah Palin with a very negative quote about her that was misattributed to National Review Online. Palin was told that a writer at National Review Online had stated that "I can't tell if Sarah Palin is incompetent, stupid, unqualified, corrupt or all of the above.” No National Review writer said any such thing. One (Byron York) was describing the liberal media's portrayal of Palin. He was not describing Palin herself nor his opinion of her. CNN had grossly misrepresented the facts and has refused to either retract their assertion or apologize for them.

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Greta Van Susteren of FOX stated on the air that "CNN was either incompetent or really dirty." Bill O'Reilly said CNN's stunt was "off the chart dishonest."

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Third, an Obama win will be just the beginning of "Biased Media." Democrats have stated their intention to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine" that will effectively end talk radio. The Machiavellian Democrats have no scruples whatsoever when it comes to fairness or balance or free speech. The only kind of speech that matters is the kind that keeps them in power.

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So say goodbye to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Michael Medved and many other Republican pundits. There will no longer be an alternative media to blow the whistle on folks like CNN. If you think I'm overstating the case, see Senator Jeff Bingham (D-NM) at Moonbattery describe his intention to shut down conservative radio sites -- including the one that was interviewing him!

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Politics is "war by other means." The Democrats know this and have pursued a scorched earth policy on Republicans for years. Nevertheless, this election has to be the dirtiest, most ruthless and most corrupt in American history.

Something Fishy at the Polls: Democrat Psy-Ops?

There's something fishy going on with the polls and I am beginning to believe they've been faked, at least those from some sources. The presidential election polls are all over the map, but a couple of them show the race at only 1 point difference.

On the way home tonight, I heard Brian Sussman on KSFO radio. Suss said that tonight there is a bit of panic in the Obama camp, as their internal polling shows the race in Pennsylvania only 2 points apart. I have not independently verified this information.

Rush Limbaugh today repeated his earlier caution that the polls are a form of psy-ops used by the Democrats to suppress the Republican vote by discouraging GOP voters. He again cautioned his audience not to place too much weight on the polls.

Democrat media CNN announced today that McCain is leaving Colorado and giving up there-- but he's not. It's a false story to add to the illusion of Obama's "inevitable" victory. Sarah Palin drew record crowds there.

Michelle Malkin reports sitting in an airport where every TV is turned to CNN with this on every screen: "Palin as a Drag on McCain." Horse feathers. Palin continues to invigorate the base. CNN has become nothing more than a propaganda outlet for the Democrat party,

Another Democrat gambit is a concerted effort to get Obama supporters to vote early, which is allowed now in several states. The reason is obvious. If they vote first, it will show Obama with a huge lead early on, a lead that will not stand when regular votes come in on election day. But the early huge lead, though an illusion, will help depress the Republican vote and add to the illusion of the pending Obama landslide.

If the Democratic Party can slander people right and left as racist for opposing Obama, if they can hire ACORN to commit massive voter fraud in their name, if they can stage "landslides" before they happen, then it isn't too far-fetched that they would abuse polls for their propaganda war.

Take the polls with a big grain of salt and get yourself to the polls on election day and VOTE. If you do nothing else that day, make sure you cast your ballot for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Don't let the dirty Democrats psyche you out.

Update: The Wall Street Journal has a related article: Are the Polls Accurate?

Biased Polls for Obama Create a "Bandwagon" Effect

William Tate at the American Thinker shows how liberal media skew polls in an effort to create a bandwagon effect for their candidate and to "lead" voters. These tactics include an oversampling of Democrats which bias the results.

He writes:

In case you doubt the impact that a media poll can have, consider this from an independent study following the 2004 presidential election:
"During presidential elections, poll results frequently are presented in the news. Reporters use these polls to tell the public what it thinks about the presidential candidates. We argue that polling results tell the public what it should think about the presidential candidates as well."
- Bruce W. Hardy and Kathleen Hall Jamieson

Also:

Polls are manipulated in a number of ways, including question wording, the order in which questions are asked, and how respondents are chosen. Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D, points out in an article at www.stats.org: "One of the big issues is who is sampled. Gallup is currently listing two polls, one 'traditional' poll of likely voters, which consists of those respondents who have previously voted, and an 'expanded' likely voter pool, consisting of respondents who are likely to vote but have not necessarily voted in a prior election. One could argue that those who didn't vote in the last election are unlikely to be voters this time around -- but there have been record numbers of new voters registering, and substantial evidence that young people are enthusiastic about voting in this election.

Perhaps their voices should count in the polls (in both cases, Gallup reports an Obama lead -- but the amount of the lead differs significantly)."

Pollsters acknowledge that they are oversampling among three demographics that the Obama campaign is targeting: young people, minorities and Democrats. It's entirely possible that there will be high turnout among those groups, despite traditionally low turnout among the former two, but it's also possible -- maybe even likely -- that this higher turnout could be offset by the Bradley effect.

Read it all here.

In other words, polls can be intentionally biased and undoubtedly are in this election, to create a false air of inevitability for an Obama win, with a discouraging effect on Republicans, Republican turnout and donations to the McCain campaign.

Don't listen to the polls. The only one that counts is on November 4th.

The Devastating Consequences of an Obama Win

Michael Medved tells how an Obama win next month will adversely affect the nation and the political scene for a generation to come.

He argues that the sweeping changes that Obama will make will be nearly impossible to reverse by subsequent Republican administratios. He writes:

That’s the biggest threat of an Obama presidency: the creation of vast new groups of dependent Americans who will comprise an unassailable new coalition that will enjoy iron control of our politics for a generation or more. If you start with newly legalized immigrant voters (with as many as 10 million new Democrats totally beholden to Obama and company) and then add the beneficiaries of government pre-school, the new nursery school teachers, the recipients and administrators of federal health insurance, federal college grants, the businesses who’ll enjoy the $150 billion in promised subsidies for “alternative energy,” the companies and employees of the vast increases in “infra-structure” spending (lots more bridges to nowhere), the non-tax payers who will suddenly receive a $1,000 per household check (under the guise of “refundable tax credit,” and many, many more.

In his first years in office, a President Obama could easily succeed in buying so many interest groups and constituencies with expensive new governmental favors, that conservative dreams of rebuilding a small government majority will go absolutely nowhere.

Read it all here.

If this be true, than perhaps the concept of secession should be revisited. And when those states who choose this route leave the union, they can honestly say, "We didn't leave the USA - it left us."

The Comprehensive Argument Against Barack Obama

At Hot Air, two twenty-somethings have written a comprehensive argument on why Barack Obama should not be elected President of the United States.

It's a great piece. Read it here.

U.S. Military: Overwhelming Support for McCain Over Obama

From Fox News:

A poll by the Military Times newspaper group suggests that there is overwhelming support for John McCain among U.S. troops in every branch of the armed forces by a nearly 3-1 margin. According to the poll, 68 percent of active-duty and retired servicemen and women support McCain, while 23 percent support Barack Obama. The numbers are nearly identical among officers and enlisted troops.

U.S. troops also said in the poll that they prefer McCain to handle the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- 74 percent said McCain would perform better, while just 19 percent said Obama would.

Read it all here.

Post-Election Strategies: How We Will Continue the Fight

With two weeks to go until the coming of the Messiah, I don't have much hope that McCain will be able to turn it around. However, I won't quit and you shouldn't either. I will vote, as I always do and always will, even though a conservative vote in California doesn't count for much.

The polls are "tight" but Obama has the lead in all of them. Democrats, especially young Democrats, often don't bother to vote and many won't this time either. So we must show up at the polls in record numbers to have a chance. If we are going down, let us go down with all guns firing. Be determined to never, never quit.

However, we may lose the election, so it is necessary to begin thinking of post-election resistance to the new socialist order. Here are my thoughts.

After his Holiness ascends to the Temple Mount and receives his laurel wreath, we can start figuring out (1) ways to resist the coming liberal tyrannies (like return of the "Fairness Doctrine"); (2) ways to overhaul and reform the Republican Party so that it actually is a conservative party that follows traditional Republican principles; (3) ways to ensure honest and accurate voting by legitimate citizens (a photo ID for voters is a must); (4) means of organized disobedience and peaceful resistance to Supreme Court edicts that are transparently unconstitutional, perhaps by readopting the old doctrine of nullification by the states; and (5) the ejection of Marxist professors and curricula from all university and college campuses, by persuasion if possible, by force of law if necessary. The Reds will no longer pollute the minds of future generations of Americans, and no, it isn't debatable.

Well, let's see now - I think I can think of one more: (6) organized resistance and opposition to the liberal/left mainstream media. Through boycotts of their advertisers and other legal means, we should be able to push the shaky New York Times into its well-deserved and eagerly anticipated bankruptcy. We'll take one leftist rag at a time, and the Times will be a worthy place to start. We must bring down the infrastructure of political liberalism and that means the university campuses, the mainstream media and any other institutions where liberalism has a monopoly on thought and free expression.

Resistance and disobedience to the Fairness Doctrine will be a must. The mislabeled "Fairness" Doctrine will end conservative talk radio and restore monopoly to the pro-Democrat mainstream media. Therefore, we must not abide by it. Open resistance to laws that advance the socialist state is necessary and needed. The Fairness Doctrine, if reinstituted, should be repudiated, refused and nullified by every red state.

For other states where repudiation isn't possible, alternative means of information transmission must be developed. Radio stations operating from ships just beyond the 12 mile coastal limit would be called for. Streaming radio programs over the internet could help restore the balance, though they would have to be streamed from somewhere outside the United States.

Should the Obamatrons come, we will find ways to fight them.

Republican Turncoats: We Will Remember and Not Forgive

Colin Powell, former Republican Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, endorsed Barack Obama for President yesterday. Mr. Powell, a former US Army general and military man, no doubt saw in Barack Obama the kind of defense-minded, forward thinking military strategy we need to keep us safe from terrorist attack. It had to be that, because Powell, a black man, has assured us that his endorsement "is not about race."

Bull hockey. It's ALL about race. For far too many black people, skin color trumps politics, principle, patriotism and party. Colin Powell has often been considered as a possible Republican president for the future. No more, Colin. We will not forget your betrayal; you're all done. Please reregister your political affiliation; on the line that says "Party" maybe you should write "Black."

Peggy Noonan, a Republican author, pundit and former Reagan speechwriter detests Sarah Palin and has made her sentiments known at every turn. Why she has taken this tact is anyone's guess -- oh I know, it must be because she was so overwhelmed with the depth and brilliance and profoundly deep thinking of Senator Joe Biden, not to mention his scintillating impersonation of Neil Kinnock. No doubt Noonan was jealous that the Dems had so upstaged us in the VP department. Well, either that, or she's an opportunistic sell-out who wants to be noticed or is currying favor with what she perceives is an emerging new era of Democrat government. After all, there's the beltway cocktail party A list to think of, and all those mainstream media talk shows.

I only speak for myself, Peggy, but I will never afford you any credibility again. I will not buy or read any books you write, nor read any columns you pen or watch or listen to any TV or radio broadcasts where you're the guest. Have a nice life without me in it.

David Frum -- He's a pundit for National Review Online and has taken the same path that Noonan has in regards to Sarah Palin. For my take on Frum, just reread the Peggy Noonan section and replace "Noonan" with "Frum." See you, Dave. Don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out of the GOP's "Big Tent."

Obama's "Tax Cuts" are really Tax Increases

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent expose of Obama's phony "tax cut" plan. His plan will increase taxes on everyone, not lower them. See the dark blue graph line to the left: that's Obama's proposed new tax rates. Existing tax rates are shown in light blue and substantially beneath Obama's planned tax increases.

What Obama's plan would do is to write a check to the millions of Americans who currently pay no taxes at all. For those of us who work for a living, we will pay higher taxes to support this massive transfer of wealth.

Another item in Obama's tax cuts are the tax credits he will provide. All but one of these tax credits are refundable -- the others only work if you have a tax liability. The liability is reduced by the credit, but you don't get it as a refund.

Read it all here.

Leftards for Palin: Ain't That Sweet?

Here's a picture of a Barack Obama supporter who must have changed his mind. Look at his t-shirt. Ain't that sweet?

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Tatooed Scumbags for Palin. Who woulda thought it?

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Atlas has the original photo.

"Kill Him" Story Proven Bogus

As an old saying goes, "A lie will travel half way around the world before truth can get its boots on."

The bogus "vicious Republicans" story that went viral is proven to be a lie. However, that didn't stop the mainstream media from broadcasting it far and wide in an effort to slander Republicans. Now that it has been shown to be false, you can be assured that they will make no mention of it whatsoever.

SCRANTON – The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled “kill him” when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s name was mentioned during Tuesday’s Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.

The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported the alleged incident on its Web site Tuesday and then again in its print edition Wednesday. The first story, written by reporter David Singleton, appeared with allegations that while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd and mentioned Obama’s name a man in the audience shouted “kill him."

News organizations including ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann reported the claim, with most attributing the allegations to the Times-Tribune story.

Read it all here.

I've described the Dem strategy before and I will recap it once more: the Dems create an outrageous lie about Republicans; Democrat politicians pick up the story and denounce Republicans as if the story were true; the mainstream media broadcasts the accusations to the skies from the rooftops; and Barack Obama repeats the accusation at a presidential debate (like he did last night). The accusation, of course, was a lie all along. But it was such a useful lie for the Democrats, who by now have planted it in the minds of voters far and wide. It no longer matters if it's true because many will believe it anyway. It has done its work and the Dems who spread the lie are satisfied with their success.

Democrats are not about "democracy." To them, politics is war, the end justifies the means, and anyone who stands in their way of power are "fair game" for personal destruction. That is exactly why they should not be elected.

McCain Scores in Final Debate

I just finished watching the last of three presidential debates between John McCain and Barack Obama. Clearly it was the best of the three and had the best moderator and the best questions.

I was pleased with McCain's performance. He was vigorous and showed excitement and appeared in earnest about many issues. Obama was smooth as usual and displayed his dazzling imitation of a chamelon as he pooh-poohed his extreme positions on late term abortion, charter schools and other issues. It was all a big misunderstanding, you see, he was always opposed to late term abortions (in spite of his past statements to the contrary).

Yes, Obama is slick - too slick, in that he isn't sincere about his past and present positions. He can lie so sincerely, and that is his greatest strength.

Did McCain hit a home run? No, but he did hit a solid triple and is now standing on third base. Let's hope he can steal home before the final out.

McCain improved considerably over the first two debates and should be seen as surging late in the game. Obama was about the same as in the first two debates. Let's hope the impression of a surging McCan isn't lost on the American public.

McCain released this ad following the debate. It's pretty good.

The Democrat Strategy in Last Three Weeks

McCain's accurate linking of Obama to the terrorist Bill Ayers must be having some effect. Joe Biden is trying to manage McCain's behavior by saying "McCain will regret these attacks for the rest of his life."

When Biden says that "McCain will regret these attacks" he's referring to tying Obama to terrorist Bill Ayers. However, when you read the headline you get an impression that McCain must be attacking Obama on racial grounds. There is a strong implication that McCain's criticisms of Obama are racist. I suspect that is Biden's intent, particularly coming one day after a black Congressman irrationally called McCain-Palin the moral equivalent of George Wallace. While the false racism accusation is still in the public mind, follow it up with a headline "McCain will regret these attacks for the rest of his life." For anyone who has scanned the headlines without reading the story, they might easily think: what else could they be talking about but race? McCain must be attacking Obama's race! It's dirty pool. Don't fall for it.

Once again we see the art of the subtle smear, so well perfected by Democrat operatives over the years. Expect to see more of this strategy in the final three weeks of the campaign.

There is a not-so-subtle side of this Democrat smear. That's when the Democrats claim that Republicans are hate-filled bullies, ready to take to the streets and start breaking glass and beating people up. Another twist on this strategem is to suggest that it is Sarah Palin who is whipping the mob into a frenzy of hate and fury. It's total bullshit, of course.

The truth is the opposite: that Democrats and liberals are reponsible for the hate-filled fanatics. See Michelle Malkin's post of yesterday, where she lists a long line of videos and pictures of leftists expressing hatred and/or threatening violence to McCain or Palin.

Are we Republicans angry? You bet. Republicans are righteously angry over having another election stolen by massive, Democrat voter fraud, like that underway right now. They're angry at having the United States turned into a European style socialist mediocrity. They're angry at the brazen bias of the mainstream media that has for too long affected the outcome of elections. And they're angry for the Democrat's dirty politics and dishonest attempts to manipulate the vote through packed polls, hostile televison interviewers, biased moderators, Republican slander and liberal violence. How many cars with McCain bumper stickers have been keyed in the last few weeks? How many McCain-Palin signs have been stolen, defaced or set on fire?

Another major strategem is the Democrat push is to register as many people, living or dead, real or fictitious, to vote as Democrats. Democrat voter fraud is a long time affliction of our political system, but this year it has metastisized. Of 5,000 new voter registrations received in Indiana, the first 2,100 were fraudulent. See the link. ACORN, a leftwing group has been practicing voter registration fraud with wild abandon throughout the United States, in an attempt to get Barack Obama "elected." ACORN's offices were raided in one city and they are under investigation in many more. Will it be too late to stop the fraudulent votes that they have set in motion? Probably.

After the Democrat-created financial crisis of the past two weeks, voters have moved away from the man who tried two years ago to prevent it, and toward the man who recently and enthusiastically pushed the crisis to fruition, i.e., from McCain to Obama. Now, however, the panic is subsiding and people are moving back to McCain. We see this as the polls again tighten to within the margin of error.

Expect more Democrat dirty tricks in the final three weeks.

Memorial Service Held for USS Grunion Crew

And when at length her course is run,
Her work for home and country done,
Of all the souls that in her sailed
Let not one life in Thee have failed;
But hear from Heaven our sailor’s cry,
And grant eternal life on high!

--Alternative verse, the Navy Hymn

On Saturday, October 11, 2008, a memorial service was held in Cleveland, Ohio for the crew of the USS Grunion, an American submarine that was lost in battle on July 30, 1942. About 200 relatives of the 70 lost crew members attended. The service was held at the site of the USS Cod, a sister ship to the USS Grunion. The Cod is now preserved in Cleveland for current and future generations to see and reflect on that great war. See pic at right.

As I noted in a previous post, the Grunion was found last month by a search team using sonar equipment. The wreck was photographed with remotely operated undersea cameras. The US Navy, after viewing the pictures, confirmed that it was indeed the Grunion.

I took it upon myself to Photoshop a very poor quality photo of Seaman Richard Harry Carroll, Seaman Second Class, who died on the Grunion. Carroll was only 18 years old when the sub was sunk by a Japanese artillery shell from the merchant ship Kano Maru, at the tip of the Aleutian Islands. Japanese crew members of the Kano Maru repoted that the Grunion had fired four torpedoes at the Kano Maru; only one of them exploded. One missed; the other two were duds and just bounced off. Had they exploded, the Kano Maru would be the ship resting on the bottom of the ocean. Whoever manufactured those faulty torpedoes should rest in everlasting infamy.

Mary Bentz of the Grunion crew family-member search team contacted me from my post, and I sent her my first Photoshopped picture of Seaman Carroll. My Photoshops of it have continued to evolve as I find some aspect of it to improve. Tonight I added some detail to the ears to make them more lifelike; they previously lacked any detail. See the Photoshop in its current state here. Mary's probably getting sick of my many revisions. She is planning to give it to Seaman Carroll's niece this week as well as to one of the Abele brothers, a son of the Grunion's captain.

At the ceremony someone read the names of the crew aloud, stating that this "releases the souls" of the departed. God bless them all.

This service and memorial reminds me of one of my favorite hymns, the Navy Hymn. A Navy choir sings it in the YouTube video that follows. The words to the song follow the video.


Its words are as follows:

ETERNAL FATHER, STRONG TO SAVE
The Navy Hymn

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

The End of American Democracy: Expect Massive Voter Fraud

The Democrat Party has long practiced voter fraud. As long ago as 1960, John Fitzgerald Kennedy won a close race against Richard Nixon, with the help of voter fraud in Texas and Illinois. In Chicago the dead have long been active in voter registration and ballot casting.

Democrats have long resisted the requirement of a photo identification card for voters because they are the primary beneficiaries of voter fraud. The reports coming in around the blogosphere indicate that 2008 will be the most fraudulent election yet. Obama's old organization ACORN is involved in massive voter fraud across the nation, registering the homeless and youths multiple times. Swing states are especially targeted. The number of fraudulent registrations run to the tens of thousands.

If our Democracy has become a fraud, what remains? Civil war?

See Atlas Shrugs article calling for the November election to be suspended pending verification of voter eligibility. She describes some of the outrageous voter fraud now underway.

An Obama Presidency? Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

The leftwing major media have presented the Talking Points for all libtards to follow over the next three weeks: scream racism over every criticism of Barack Obama.

It's just their usual ploy to shut up the Obama critics, and if they won't shut up, to invalidate their criticisms by distorting their motives.

Don't listen to them. There are very valid reasons to fear an Obama presidency. See Six reasons to fear that Obama will govern from the far left.






Image courtesy of NoSheeplesHere.blogspot.com.

John McCain Hits the Target Again! (His Foot)

Friday on the campaign trail, John McCain noticed that he was being too effective in his attacks on Barack Obama. The little angel on his shoulder whispered, "Take it easy! Do you actually want to WIN this election?" So Gentleman John immediately backed off and told his audience that "You don't have to be scared of Barack Obama as President" and noted that Barack Obama is "a decent family man and citizen."

The crowd booed loudly but to no avail. John McCain was filled with a steely resolve, to become just another footnote to history; he had waffled for it; he had been resolutely irresolute for it; he had groveled for it at the foot of the mainstream media and his Democrat colleagues on Capitol Hill, AND HE WOULD NOT BE DENIED.

Ragnar Danneskjold at the Jawa Report gives McCain a reality check. He writes:

For the most part, you have a chance in this race at all for one reason: you are not Barack Obama. Very few people love you--or even like you. For a great many of us, our support for your candidacy has little, if anything, to do with any wonderful things we expect you to do if you're elected President. In fact, if you're elected, we'll no doubt have to spend a whole bunch of our time over the next four years trying to prevent you from doing much. Our support of your candidacy arises, rather, out of the really shitty things we reasonably expect Barack Obama and his socialist allies to do to our country if he's elected.

John McCain has a fatal flaw as a politician that will probably prevent his election as President. That flaw is his lack of moral certainty about the rectitude of his cause. He lacks a strong ideological foundation, i.e. core beliefs about government and the private sector, where one ends (or should) and the other begins. Lacking these core beliefs, he also lacks the ability to see how disasterous an Obama presidency would be to American freedom and our free market economy.

John McCain cannot win a debate with Obama because he is too busy debating himself. If I had to describe McCain in one word it would be irresolute.

The October Surprise: Obama Refuses to Prove His U.S. Birth: YouTube Video

My good blogging buddy Carol at No Sheeples Here hit it out of the park today when she posted a new video from YouTube by Illuminati Pictures, "The October Surprise." The video is about a lawsuit filed against Obama by Philadelphia lawyer and Democrat Philip J. Berg, demanding to see proof of Obama's U.S. birth. Rather than produce a certified birth certificate, Obama and the DNC have asked the court to dismiss the case, alleging that Berg doesn't have the legal standing to bring such a suit. Berg says that if the court does dismiss, he will file an an appeal with the US District Court or the United States Supreme Court.

Berg gives evidence that Obama was born in Kenya, by quoting one of his relatives, an aunt, who said she waited for his birth in the hospital -- in Kenya. Obama's father was a citizen of Kenya and his stepfather was a citizen of Indonesia; both were Muslims.

It's obvious that if Obama has nothing to hide, the quickest and cheapest way to end this controversy and lawsuit would be to produce a valid birth certificate proving that he is a natural born citizen of the United States. Why doesn't he? Maybe the reason is that Obama is, in fact, a natural born citizen of Kenya and therefore Constitutionally barred from being President of the United States.

Thomas Lifton at the American Thinker has also posted the video and commented on it, saying it coud be "a Game Changer" if the video goes viral. See his comments here.

Troopergate Accomplishes Its Goal: Smear Palin

The Alaska committee investigating Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner has been released and concludes that "Sarah Palin abused her power" as governor. It presents no evidence or rationale for coming to this conclusion, but none was needed. This investigation was a typical Democrat smear job from day one. Paul Mirengoff at Power Line says the report is "thin gruel." Read what he says about it here.

Over the years the Democrats have honed their "investigation" skills to a fine edge, wherein they
1. Find a trumped-up or semiplausible reason to investigate a Republican
2. Publish all kinds of innuendo regarding the Republican's alleged nefarious deeds, which is then picked up by the Democrat mass media and broadcast to the world, e.g., "Joe Republican is the target of an ethics probe," where the breach of ethics is clearly on the investigator's side, i.e. using his role to accomplish a political goal instead of actually determining truth or justice.
3. Reach an unsubstantiated conclusion that the Republican did indeed do something nefarious, disgusting, unethical, racist, bordering on highway robbery, incest, rape and outright treason; but due to some technicality the Democrat investigators will let it pass.

Another case in point is the so-called "Keating Five" investigation of corruption involving the failure of Lincoln Savings and Loan Association and subsequent trial and conviction of its President for fraud and corruption. Five senators were associated with the Lincoln S&L Association: four Democrats and one Republican. John McCain was the sole Republican. Wikipedia says this:

Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed in 1989, at a cost of over $3 billion to the federal government. Some 23,000 Lincoln bondholders were defrauded and many elderly investors lost their life savings. The substantial political contributions that Keating had made to each of the senators, totalling $1.3 million, attracted considerable public and media attention. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the FHLBB in its investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment."

So McCain was cleared of acting improperly? You'd never know that by Democrat references to "Keating Five" today. There is always the very useful reference to smear McCain and imply that he did something unethical or illegal, and indeed, that was the reason he was included in the Senate Ethics investigation in the first place.

Yesterday, on the way to work, Brian Sussman on KSFO radio interviewed the chief investigator in that Ethics probe, who himself is a Democrat. The investigator said that, early on in the investigation, it was clear that McCain had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be a target of the probe. He therefore advised the Committee to drop McCain from the investigation. However, the Democrats on the Ethics Committee didn't want to implicate only Democrats -- they insisted on including McCain for political reasons and political reasons only.

Democrats play very dirty. If, or should I say when, Obama is elected, expect for Bush and Cheney to be arrested and put on trial for a long list of alleged crimes.

It Wasn't Wall Street Greed, It Was Government-Imposed Lending Policies

It grieves me to hear even Sarah Palin stating that the mortgage meltdown and financial crisis is the result of "Wall Street greed and corruption." Nothing could be further from the truth. However, the truth is politically unfeasible. Once again, we can't tell the truth because it has racial ramifications, and any honest or open discussion on the subject is stricly verboten in our racially hyper-sensitive society.

The financial crisis was caused by the Democratic Party in general, and Barack Obama was a warrior in their cause: to end "redlining" of granting mortgages based on the ability to repay the loans. The Democrats forced banks and lending institutions to make many bad loans to poor people and minorities, just because the borrowers were poor and/or minorities. It was racial norming applied to the economy, like the racial norming liberals once applied to university admissions, i.e. accepting lower SAT scores from blacks and hispanics while requiring higher SAT scores from whites and asians.

Racial norming didn't work for university admissions - the unqualified still flunked out. It didn't work for mortgages either, as the financially unqualified couldn't repay and soon defaulted on the loans. Racial norming merely sets up the intended beneficiaries for failure, leaving the rest of us to clean up the mess. It's as if results don't matter, just the glorious symbolism of the intent.

This is the kind of racial norming/economically disasterous/income redistribution nonsense the Democrats will continue to impose on the country as soon as they are fully back in power -- and they are now headed towards electing the most leftwing president in American history who will, in all probability, have a filibuster-proof, leftwing Congress to back him up.

The Jawa Report has a great article today on the subprime mortgage mess and Barack Obama's hand in it.

The frustrating thing is this: many Americans simply don't know the truth about Obama because the mainstream media are openly, flagrantly and disgustingly biased in his favor. They absolutely will not report any of it.

We Are So Screwed - Probably

Obama is spending like a drunken Democrat on political advertisements in toss-up states, all of whom are now moving in his direction. He can afford it, I guess. Why can't McCain?

The more that comes to light about the slimy little weasel Obama, the more disgusted I feel towards the American people. This week we learned that Obama was a political candidate and member of the Socialist New Party, proving his extreme leftwing views; meanwhile, his buddies at ACORN continue their massive voter fraud to get him elected in close-race states.

Meanwhile, John McCain continues to play the sheepish and shy "gentleman" who is unwilling to climb into the pig trough and mud wrestle with this Socialist. He is losing by default. America may be socialized, our standard of living wrecked, our military preparedness a thing of the past, the "fairness" doctrine reinstituted to shut down the conservative talk shows and rightwing blogosphere, but what the hell. John McCain will be able to brag about his moral superiority to his circle of friends, say with great pride how he was "above it all." In the long sweep of history, no doubt that will mean a lot.

A generation from now, kids will ask their mother: "Mommy, who was John McCain?" And she will look at her children tenderly, and with a tear in her eye, smile and say, "Beats the hell out of me."

I didn't vote for John McCain in the primaries. There was a reason for that.

The Second Presidential Debate

I listened to the second presidential debate tonight between McCain and Obama. It wasn't much better than the first. McCain was still way too polite to Obama. McCain, I think, did a little better than Obama did. Obama was really boring, whereas McCain was merely boring.

On the campaign trail, McCain has really been kicking Obama butt, criticizing Obama's associations and bad judgments without apology or restraint, and it is powerful. Why he can't bring that same energy to a debate is anyone's guess.

The polls show the race narrowing again, probably as the result of a positive bounce from Palin's debate performance last week. Although Obama still has the advantage, this race is far from over and anything can happen.

Heroes of the USS Grunion: WWII Sub Found

In the news today there are stories of the USS Grunion, a US submarine that was sunk off the Aleutian Islands in July 1942. Seventy crew members died in the sinking.

For 66 years the sub sat on the ocean floor, a tomb to its crew. However, the US Navy never knew what happened to the Grunion. It was ordered to return to base after sinking several Japanese craft, but did not respond. It was never heard from again, leaving family members to wonder about the fate of their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons.

The sub was found last month by an expedition funded by the sons of the sub's captain. It is a compelling story. Out of curiosity, I googled the USS Grunion and found several sites devoted to it. One site carries a list of the crew members and photos of them. I looked at several pictures at random. The men were mostly young and handsome. It is sad that they did not get to live out their lives and raise families and have careers. They died so the rest of us good enjoy normal lives.

One of the photos I looked at was of seaman Richard Harry Caroll. I noticed that the only photo of him was taken from a newspaper and is very grainy and indistinct. I figured he deserves a better memorial than that and resolved to try and photoshop his picture to create a more realistic and lifelike image of this American sailor. If I succeed, I'll post it here and also forward it to the website in case they want to use it.

So I will spend 2 or 3 hours patiently retouching and colorizing the picture. It's the least I can do for Richard Carroll. Men like these make me feel that my own life isn't worth spit compared to theirs. Their lives were short but meaningful. They are the waves in Old Glory as she floats in the breeze, the notes in the bugle song called Taps, the rays in the sunrise over Washington, D.C., the threads in the great tapestry that is America. May we be worthy of their sacrifice.

UPDATE 4: I lied. Now I have added some detail to the ears to make them appear more lifelike. Before they were just white ovals. I used the pencil tool and the blur tool, and finished it off with the healing brush.

UPDATE 3: I added all of the enhancements I describe below as still needed. Now, I quit!

UPDATE 2: Never say die. Today I did some research on the internet about removing the cross-hatch pattern from a newspaper photo. I used the Gaussian blur in the filter section to take out most of the cross-hatch; then I used the Surface blur to complete the process. This made the image look much better. I then cleaned it up with the brush tool, the cloning tool and the healing brush. I overlaid the hair with some brush strokes to give a realistic appearance to the hairline. Since the right ear (left to us) was obliterated by noise, I copied the left ear, flipped it, and moved it into place. Finally, I put some painted eyeballs in as the originals were too blurry to repair, with some light highlights similar to the original.

Okay, now I really am partially satisfied. I think the Photoshop captures the true essence of Seaman Richard Harry Carroll and presents a much more distinct image of the man. What a handsome guy he was. However, it isn't perfect. I need to make his cheeks slightly rounder, especially his right cheek (on our left); refocus the eyes to look straight ahead and add eyelids; shorten his chin by a smidgen; and fix the white stripes of his uniform so they are broader and flow better. I think I see faint smile lines around the mouth in the original, so I need to put them into the Photoshop as well. One last thing: I need to make his eyebrows wider; they are thinner than the original and that won't do.

I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. Perfection is impossible to attain, but I will try harder and the above Photoshop may evolve over time.

FIRST UPDATE (now superceded): I gave it quite an effort, trying to reproduce Seaman Carroll in a Photoshop. It's above left [now replaced by black and white version]. I can't say I'm satisfied with it. I wasn't able to capture his essence sufficiently. The eyes, nose and mouth are not true enough.

Trying to repair a photo in as bad a shape as the original (above right) is a lot harder than I thought. In order to do it, you have to digitally repaint a lot of the photo and some artistic license is required. I don't have a license so I guess that explains it.

I won't give up though. I learn a lot by doing projects like this and each effort gets a little better. So I'll take Seaman Carroll's characteristics one at a time and will keep at it til I get it right. Stay tuned.

Obama: The Ultimate Socialist Savior Redeemer (USSR)

In the last four weeks before the election, Sarah Palin has begun attacking Obama's radical ties. She is noting in campaign speeches that Obama "pals around" with terrorists, meaning Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and his Communist wife, Benardine Dohrn. As my friend Donald Douglas at American Power notes, it's driving the Left nuts. Someone is telling the truth about their Ultimate Socialist Savior Redeemer (or USSR for short). Telling the truth! What a dirty trick!

Funny how Barack Obama personifies all the radical, anti-American, anti-capitalist ideas that the Left craves. Even more funny is how they don't want anyone to know it. If you're ashamed of your beliefs, Lefties, maybe you ought to change them.

Instead, they will begin calling any effective arguments against Obama as "racist." It has already started. When you begin picking up flak, you know you are over the target.

Bombs away!

McCain Promises a Fiercer Fight

McCain has promised a "fiercer fight" against Obama in the remaining debates. With a month to go before the election, it is still possible to turn this election around. However, the tides of public opinion are now against him and it will be an uphill battle.

McCain can enhance his chances by focusing, finally, on the following:
1. Obama's radical associations with admitted Communist terrorists, i.e. William Ayers and Benardine Dohrn;
2. The culpability of the Democratic Party in the subprime mortgage mess and Obama's opposition to Bush and McCain's attempts to head off the crisis as much as two years ago;
3. Obama's socialist agenda that will raise taxes, suppress economic activity and deepen the recession, and
4. Obama's plans to downsize the military budget and his naivite in the face of totalitarian threats around the world.

McCain has to lose the nice guy approach and come out swinging. If he doesn't, he can kiss this election goodbye.

Finally, Justice for O.J. Simpson: GUILTY on All Counts

Yesterday in Las Vegas, O.J. Simpson was found guilty on all counts of armed robbery and kidnapping. His trial verdict came thirteen years to the day after he was acquitted of the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. O.J. Simpson was given an undeserved free pass thirteen years ago.

Although the evidence of his guilt in the Simpson-Goldman slayings was overwhelming, the almost all black jury let him off. Their verdict was was clearly jury nullification on account of their shared race with the defendant. Simpson's acquittal was an outrageous miscarriage of justice.

It was very shocking to me when the 1995 verdict was read on television and I realized, for the first time, that black people are, as a whole, very racist. This was made clear by the fact that 90% of black people nationwide wanted O.J. acquitted (regardless of his guilt) and broke into cheers when the verdict was read. To them, the trial was not about murder or guilt or innocence, it was about black people against white people. My college-inbred racial idealism went flying out the window and has not returned.

So O.J. got to play golf for the next decade, even though largely spurned by a society who knew the truth: that he was a vicious murderer who had been given a get-out-of-jail free card. He was successfully sued in a civil trial by the families of Nicole and Ron and found liable for their deaths. The jury awarded millions of dollars to the families, if they could collect it. Then a year or so ago, O.J. did something incredibly stupid. He attempted, with five accomplices, to rob two sports memoribilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.

How he could have thought this was a good idea is not obvious to me. Did he think he wouldn't be recognized? That the victims wouldn't report it to the police? No, there was something else at work in this drama: O.J.'s deep feelings of guilt for Nicole and Ron. I suspect that O.J. was operating on a subconscious level, that he committed such a bone-headed crime because he wanted to be caught and punished. Then and only then might he be finally released from the guilt of the murders he committed. The fact that he was finally convicted of a serious crime, on the 13th anniversary of his acquittal in Los Angeles, is truly amazing. It seems that God had a hand in it.

Somewhere, Nicole and Ron are smiling. When the cell door finally slams shut in O.J.'s face it will be because he wanted it that way. O.J. Simpson has judged himself and pronounced sentence: guilty on all counts.

My Gut Speaks and I Listen: Barack Obama Will Win the Election

Sarah Palin did fine in the debate last night, coming across as warm, sincere and real. The punditry is saying that she helped her own political future substantially, but not necessarily that of John McCain. McCain has been too constrained in making legitimate criticisms of Obama and his history of radicalism, probably because Obama is black and McCain is apparently afraid of the bogus racism charge that is sure to come should he win. That, or he has some self-defeating notion that remaining a “gentleman” in a bare-knuckles sport is the highest priority.

McCain will debate Obama again next week and he has to come out swinging or relegate himself to the political dustbin of history. But will he?

My intuition is often very accurate. This morning when I woke up, I had a strong feeling of certitude that we Republicans are going to lose this election and that Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. It wasn’t a panicky feeling or a worried feeling or a feeling of fear, it was a calm realization, an inner knowing. It told me in a quiet but clear voice that the election is lost. The inner voice presented it to me as a done deal.

The reason is simple. Americans just get tired of the same brand, the same color, the same style and want to make a change. It’s a gamble that they are willing to take, that some way, somehow, someone new may have the answers to the country’s ills just as he promises. They just want a change, and not for any deep political or philosophical reasons, but as a simple reaction to boredom. That's the main reason Hillary lost to Obama. The public is tired of hearing about the Clintons. It's an old book that they've read before.

It’s as if they (the voters) have been driving a blue car for eight years and now want to buy a green one or a red one. After having been on a diet of bland food for eight years, they decide to throw caution to the wind and eat a banana cream pie. Whole. Screw it, they say, I’ll worry about the consequences tomorrow.

This need for change, any change, even potentially dangerous or harmful change, is somehow buried deep in the psyche of humans and is not entirely rational. All the debating and cold analysis won’t change enough minds to make a difference. Obama will be the next president because America wants a binge and will have it. After the binge will come the hangover and the violent retching over the porcelain throne, followed by the election of Republicans as sanity returns.

It's sad, but politics is somewhat cyclical, like the annual rites where religious penitents cut themselves with knives or whip themselves with chains. Pain must be inflicted and blood must be shed, and who knows why. Obama's election will be America whipping itself. America will bleed and it will be painful, but then the healing will begin.

The country has been split down the middle politically since 2000. Perhaps it will move closer together after Obama and the Democrats further ruin the economy, weaken our military and expose us to terrorist harm. I see Obama as a trial the country must go through to find itself again; before a sick body can get well it must vomit the poison out of its system. Obama may be the finger-down-the-throat that induces the needed regurgitation; not by doing anything good for the country, but by reminding Americans that socialism and pacifism do not work and never have.

I hope like hell I'm wrong about this, but I don't think so. In the unpleasant chance that my gut is right, we will need to move into the next phase: opposition and resistance.

Sarah Palin Debates Joe Biden: My Take

I watched the Sarah Palin - Joe Biden vice presidential debate tonight. Sarah Palin did just fine. I was pleased by her performance.

Sarah was informed and knowledgeable on the questions presented to her by Gwen Ifill, an Obama supporter and moderator of the debate. In spite of GOP concerns about Ifill skewing the questions in Biden's favor, she was professional and maintained an air of impartiality. I think she did much better than most moderators of prior debates, almost all of whom seemed pro-Democrat to me.

Who won the debate? Who cares? The fact is, Palin came across as warm, sincere and real. She certainly helped the McCain ticket tonight. Will this translate into a large pro-McCain bounce in the polls? I doubt it. Maybe 1 or 2 points if we're lucky.

I liked how she was cordial and respectful to Biden even while disagreeing with him and sometimes taking him to task, particularly over comments he made in support of McCain and against Obama before Obama selected him as his VP running mate.

Joe Biden also did a good job and raised himself in my esteem. He never got really mean. He launched no personal attacks. He was a good soldier for Obama, a good lieutenant to his commander, and argued well for Obama; however, he seemed a bit like the lawyer he is, a man trained to argue positions he may not actually support in his own mind.

The truth, I think, is that Palin won Biden over along with many other people. She paid him sincere compliments, about his son serving in Iraq, about his wife's 30 years as a teacher. At the end of the debate Palin and Biden stood smiling at one another, shaking hands and exchanging private conversation. Whatever Biden's beliefs about politics, he did not seem to dislike Sarah Palin; just the opposite.

Which just goes to prove how good she will be as the next Vice President of the United States.

Daniel Pipes and "Campus Watch" Use a Stogie Cartoon

My friend Cinnamon Stillwell contacted me last Friday and told me Campus Watch, an organization headed by middle east expert Daniel Pipes, wanted a cartoon for their website. The cartoon was to be a response to John Esposito, a professor of middle eastern studies at Georgetown University.

Esposito is a "dhimmi" with regard to Islam and refuses to believe anything bad about the religion. He is of the Edward Said school of "Orientalism" which posits that Muslims are nicer than pie and have only been naughty when provoked by Christians, Crusaders and other unwilling victims. Campus Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia. It is a society of middle east scholars who keep watch on the pro-Islamic happenings on college campuses and who refute scholars and books who misstate facts, especially when expressing the dhimmi view. John Esposito is one of the worst of this (dhimmi) genre and there's a rumor that he has a dotted line tatooed around his neck that says "Cut Here."

In any case, Esposito regularly trades barbs with Pipes. Last month he referred to Campus Watch scholars as "a legion of devils" that Christ would have cast out. Those scholars include Daniel Pipes, Martin Kramer, Steven Emerson and Bernard Lewis.

Google any of their names and read the Wikipedia bios on these four men. They are impressive. They have such large and well-developed brains that they have to push them around in wheel barrows. For instance, Daniel Pipes has a PhD from Harvard in medieval Islamic history and Bernard Lewis is a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Princeton University. Martin Kramer used to teach at Tel Aviv University and has also lectured at Georgetown, Brandeis and Cornell. He has a PhD from Princeton. Steven Emerson is an investigative journalist with an MA from Brown University. He is a terrorism expert, has written about 7 books on radical Islam, and helped make the film "Obsession." Under achievers they are not.

Anyway, Cinnamon and Campus Watch Director Winfield Myers asked me to make a cartoon of John Esposito being frightened by the legion of devils, with faces of Emerson, Lewis, Kramer and Esposito, and I did so. I created red bodies with Poser 7, but everything else is Photoshop.

You can see it at this link. Campus Watch will post the cartoon tomorrow.

Andrew Sullivan's Admiration for Sarah Palin

Powerline Blog has a YouTube video of Sarah Palin playing the flute in the talent competition of the Miss Alaska beauty pageant of 1984. Go here to view it.

Powerline notes that the video was unearthed from the dusty storage chest of history by Andrew Sullivan, who seems to think that these videos of the 19 year old Palin in a beauty pageant is the most demeaning possible disclosure of her life.

Andrew Sullivan, as I've mentioned before, is a rabid Sarah Palin hating gay Brit who imagines that he is terribly knowledgeable and sophisticated. But we do have to give him some credit here. He is obviously struck by something he has in common with Sarah Palin, and it has moved him: they both play the flute.

She plays a silver flute. Sullivan plays the skin flute.

My Big Photoshop Project

Blogging may be somewhat light until the weekend. I was asked to do a Photoshopped cartoon for a conservative organization. I won't disclose any more about it until they publish the cartoon, to avoid spoiling any surprise.

They even offered to pay me for it. I declined payment as this is one of my ways to help the conservative cause. I'm having a lot of fun with this project but I am nearly finished. I will get back to preaching doom and gloom as soon as possible. So all you masochists out there, hit yourself with a hammer for the next couple of days and check back on Saturday.

UPDATE: I finished the cartoon and presented it. If it is accepted for publication I will link to it later so you can admire it! Actually, I think it's one of the best Photoshops I have ever done.