Sandy Berger and the Real Hillary Clinton

So, what does it say that Hillary Clinton chose Mr. Berger as one of her advisers, and that she will rely on the advice of a convicted criminal who is barred from access to the sort of national security information a party's candidate for President is routinely briefed on during a campaign?

She selected a key adviser she knows has scandalously flouted the law, lied to deflect blame onto others, and subverted the democratic processes that provide accountability for officials' conduct. She selected someone who has destroyed documents that could be crucial to America's security to be a trusted councilor on national security matters - documents that could have contained hand-written notes by her husband or information that would have called his judgment into question.

Hillary has had to renounce associates before. She's had numerous fund-raising scandals involving criminal wrong-doing by people she should have known to be criminals, Norman Hsu being the most recent and notorious. But in all of those instances, she has had the plausible excuse that she didn't know what they had done wrong.

In Sandy Berger's case, there is no excuse. Hillary's inclusion of Sandy Berger in her circle of advisers demonstrates that, notwithstanding her law license, she really doesn't care about the law. She doesn't care whether someone violates the law if they're on her team, if the violation in some way helps the Clintons. Hillary's indifference to criminal wrong-doing suggests that she sees herself as above the law, breezily ignoring law when it's an impediment to something she wants.

Sandy Berger didn't lie about sex or do something ordinary that isn't strictly in keeping with law - like speeding on a road where citizens regard the posted limits as advisory rather than mandatory. Sandy Berger committed a serious crime, intentionally, and lied about it, intentionally, and put his nation at risk. Hillary isn't bothered by any of that. Whatever she says about the rule of law - which limits official power to safeguard all of us - she evidently doesn't believe it was intended to place limits on her.

I was thoroughly surprised that Hillary picked Sandy Berger as an adviser. I'm also a little surprised of such little media attention so far. I wonder if Mr. Berger garners enough attention, will she drop him? Are the republicans not brining attention to Mr. Berger in the hopes that she will keep him long enough to cause her damage closer to the election when they finally make an issue out of him?

How to reduce the abortion rate

The Hillster has just described a proposed program where the US government would provide $5,000 to each child born in the US. Read more here. I say, why not offer $5,000 to every child born in India and China so that they could use the money to determine how to clean up their own environmnetal problems. Oh, wait, we've already been tasked to give them money to solve their own problems. Drat.

Republicans

"Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes, less regulations - they had the resources to do it, they had the knowlege to do it, they had the political majorities to do it. And they didn't." - Alan Greenspan

Never a Dale Moment

I used to be a big fan of NASCAR. A BIG fan; but not so since their push towards mega-marketing. But I still follow the news, and occasionally flip to the race on Sundays if I’m not preoccupied. One story, though, that caught my attention today was an AP wire story claiming that a conspiracy has erupted in the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. camp.

You see, Dale Jr., the son of the late racing legend of the same name, is leaving the team that his father started (and which is now run by his step-mother, Teresa). The split is less than amicable, and reports are that the two haven’t spoken since last December. The controversy is over whether or not Theresa sabotaged Junior’s cars in a few races this year by ordering his crew to install sub-standard engines, and thereby keep him from contending for the NASCAR championship.

I find those claims to be ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as another controversy that arose years back after Dale Sr. died in a wreck at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500. This controversy (unsubstantiated, of course) had to do with NASCAR “fixing” races at the superspeedways (Talladega and Daytona) in order to give Junior wins and please the legion of Earnhardt fans and the legacy of his father, who dominated at those tracks.

How could NASCAR “fix” races, you ask? Simple; at superspeedways (2.5 mile tri-ovals), the cars are equipped with restrictor plates. These plates are placed over the carburetors, and restrict the air flow that goes into the engine, thereby decreasing the air/fuel/combustion mix and limiting the speeds at which the cars travel. NASCAR manufactures and distributes the plates before the races, so the conspiracy was that the governing body “gave” Junior restrictor plates with larger openings, which would give him the extra horsepower necessary to get out and stay out in front. The claims were never founded, and the controversy died down.

Controversy always makes for good NASCAR news; from the days of the bootleggers outrunning the revenuers in rural North Carolina to the multi-billion dollar mega-corporations that operate in the sport today. Count on a good conspiracy theory to keep this “fan on the bubble” interested.

A tale of two houses

I received this e-mail from my cousin:



House #1
A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.



House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American Southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of
the "environmentalist," Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence the of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

From a friend in Iraq:

From a friend in Iraq:

This is my last email update from the Iraqi Theater of Operations (ITO) as it is known out here. It has been an extremely eventful year, and thanks be to God, if my luck holds out, a safe one for me at least, not counting a few near misses. For many more, however, it has not been a safe year, and many Coalition Forces and Iraqi people have paid the ultimate price for an Iraq free of extremists. It is in their memory, especially my many countrymen, including the 20 or so from my base in southern Iraq, who have died in this effort, that I dedicate this email.

I am sitting at the terminal at the Baghdad Airport. The C-130 leaves in a few hours. After that, I take my chances like anybody else on the commercial flight outta Kuwait to DC tonight. Since they (the airlines anyway) say that airline travel is safer than driving, and without wanting to tempt fate or in anyway jinx myself, I am betting I will be seeing you folks Stateside.

Actually because of the time difference, by the time you get this email, I should be peacefully picking my teeth at the D-FAC (see below) on Ali As-Saleem AB in Kuwait (definitely a rear area - no worries there).

If you do not support the war over here, just ask yourself if you would want to live in a country run by the ideas of such visionaries as Moqtada Al-Sadr (whom we just call "Mookie" over here) or Usama bin Laden (whom we call many things over here, none of which can I relate to this mixed audience). Whatever got us here, the mission is critical now to our country's safety, and we owe this to the Iraqi people who have suffered so much under Hussein, and continue to suffer as it struggles to emerge from the chaos and repression of the previous regime, hampered by neighbors who will willingly supply weapons and men to instigate a civil war for the sole reason of embarrassing the United States. In this respect they are using the Iraqis and turning them on themselves as pawns in their own sick game.

When I arrived into the ITO, the battle was very much in the balance. The best we could do was hold the line, and our enemies seemed to be able to penetrate us at will. Thanks to the Surge, which we all wish was bigger than it was, and to the better strategy of the Coalition, we have been able to make significant progress. For the first time we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Probably the most significant change is that more and more, extremists are being marginalized, and the Iraqi Government is being seen as the legitimate solution by the Iraqi people themselves. Also, there are just more Iraqi Security Forces available to put down the bad guys.

There are still many problem areas, Baghdad is better, but still not secure. A few weeks ago the brave souls at the Embassy had to endure a barrage of mortars - about 35 total. Basrah is a total mess being run by the militias fighting over stolen oil. In the west and south though, despite some recent setbacks, the trend is definitely good.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Despite the obvious drawbacks of service here, it has actually been a rewarding year. One thing that is funny out here is that this mission has forced so many totally dis-similar USG agencies, with totally different cultures to work together.

I thought that the State Department was bad for acronyms. I found out that we can't hold a candle to the military that has an acronym for EVERYTHING. They can't even eat without using an acronym - the mess hall, or chow hall for a Marine is called the D-FAC here, short for dining facility. I have used that one so much this past year that I am afraid of asking a friend to lunch at the State Department cafeteria and saying "let's meet at the D-FAC!" Combat rations are called "C-RATs" (how in the world the military expects you to eat something with the word "rat" in it is beyond me), gym clothes are called "PTs," a simple uniform is called a "DCU;" The list is endless! My personal favorite, one that actually makes sense is the acronym for the Point Of Origin site for a mortar or rocket attack. It is called a "POO" site. No comment. ;)

Getting to ride around in Blackhawks speeding at break-neck speed doing wild maneuvers with the wind rushing through your hair is definitely pretty cool The blacked-out midnight runs are the best. The novelty of riding like cargo, or better still, cattle in a C-130 got old 30 minutes into my first flight, but I am still glad I got the chance to do it. I won't miss the corkscrew landings, but the two times I got to see those landings from the cockpit was definitely worth the ride.

I will miss the Italian Army I originally deployed with, and their nightly pizza parties - home made pizza in brick ovens - the real McCoy. I will miss their D-FAC more with its un-impressive, but nevertheless very welcome under the circumstances, wine list (no kidding!). They "TOA"ed out (I will leave you to figure that acronym out) in November and we were left trying to bootleg inferior Lebanese wine from Baghdad. Hell of a way to fight a war with inferior wine.

I will definitely miss the wonderful colleagues with whom I worked in Iraq, Richard my boss and dear friend, and Ken the USAID guy, and now dear friend who persevered through so much and managed to actually accomplish a lot together. My grief at our parting is much consoled by the fact that we will all be in DC together in a few weeks, and plan to get together as soon as possible. Huge kudos to both of you guys, and I will see you soon!

That's all for now. Thank you all for your support with the emails, letters, and especially your prayers.

God bless,
Patrick

Lafayette, Louisiana Radio Hosts' On-Air Fight. 'Get the F*** Out!'

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Reagan Gahagan Report: Georgia Says It Fired on Russian Plane#links#links

Reagan Gahagan Report: Georgia Says It Fired on Russian Plane#links#links