There are a lot of big things happening out there, so I'm going to experiment with different blog post formats for a bit to try to share more info without getting too wordy. If you don't mind, please let me know (by leaving a comment) which formats you like the best.
Hillary 0-4?
Howard Fineman (no conservative!) warns Hillary Clinton may lose all four of the first primary contests, and that Obama is now the front-runner.
I'm torn - I can't decide if it would be better to watch Hillary go down in her own party, or to the GOP...
Dumb it down!
A New York high school principal has essentially told teachers to dumb down their courses because their students are poor and have bad family backgrounds.
Can anyone say, 'fixing the wrong problem'?!
Kicking some serious butt.
An ABC reporter gives an eyewitness account of a massive U.S.-led NATO victory against the Taliban in Afghanistan: hundreds of Taliban dead, but only 2 British and 1 American casualties (the result of vehicles hitting mines left by the Soviets in the 1980s, not the Taliban).
That's what I'm talkin' about!
More taxes.
The Democrats are still pledging to raise taxes everywhere they can. They're using the excuse of reducing Bush-era deficits, but the fact is that the deficit is now the smallest (after Bush's tax CUTS) its been in years.
They're going straight for your pocketbook...you have been warned!
The cost of fear.
Fareed Zakaria writes in Newsweek about how America has become alienated from the world through fear. Both Reps and Dems are responsible in their own ways, but the problem is for all of us to deal with. Zakaria says we need to regain our confidence and look toward the future.
While I don't necessarily agree with Zakaria's conclusions, some great points are raised. Fear should never be the driving force behind policy, and there is way too much fear going on here (especially fear of being politically incorrect). We do need to regain our confidence, especially in regard to the history, traditions, and policies that made us great in the first place.
The New York Times tells a whopper!
The New York Times ran an editorial condemning President Bush for the "damage done to America's intelligence-gathering capabilities in the name of fighting terrorism." This is stunning, given that the NYT has done the following:
- disclosed a secret program (the "SWIFT" program) to monitor financial transactions that may be used to fund terror
- two of its "ace" reporters tipped off groups that they were being investigated by the FBI and that raids were imminent (allowing these groups to destroy evidence)
- opposed techniques designed to elicit information regarding terror attacks which it has labeled "torture" ("waterboarding" - one of the techniques condemned by the Times -- has been used exactly THREE times and will unlikely ever to be used again despite evidence that it led to valuable information)
- disclosed and opposed the monitoring of electronic communication between foreign sources and US-based terror suspects
- opposed the worldwide Echelon system -- a very sophisticated network designed to sift the airwaves for evdience that might lead to the prevention of terrror attacks -- though it supported the same program under the Clinton Administration
- opposed the expansion of the ability to use warrants to discover terror ties and prevent attacks
- disclosed methods used in interrogations that will help prepare terror suspects from resisting them in the future
- supported Florida Professor Sami-Al Arian from accusations that he funneled funds to terror groups (a charge he pled guilty to)
- advocated for the "legal rights' of terrorists imprisoned in Guantanomo Bay and has called for the closing of that prison despite its immense value in the war on terror
- disclosed the rarely used but potentially vital practice of rendition where terror suspects are captured and sent to other nations for interrogation
The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Rest assured there will be more - after all, Bush doesn't leave office until January of 2009.
There's my two cents.
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