An Uphill Battle

The Hildebeast has some daunting negatives.

September 7, 2005--Twenty-seven percent (27%) of Americans say they will definitely vote for Hillary Clinton if she runs for President in 2008. The latest Rasmussen Reports poll for the Hillary Meter finds that 38% will definitely vote against her.

Those figures are little changed from our last poll, but are a bit more pessimistic for the former First Lady than poll results from earlier in the year. Related surveys have shown Clinton leading Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush in hypothetical 2008 match-ups while trailing Rudy Giuliani and John McCain.

Who's to Blame?

According to a Gallup Poll, only a small minority believe Bush is to blame for the problems in NOLA.

38% of Americans said no one was really to blame.

13% cited Bush

18% the federal govt.

25% state and local officials.

just 29% say someone should be fired, while 63% disagree.

Again the Entrenched Media fails to move the American peoples opinion to their way of thinking.

Sentence Enhancers

For the last 7 days by far and away the most overused word in the Entrenched Media's lexicon............FINALLY. Help arrives FINALLY. People are being evacuated from the Superdome, FINALLY. Bush sends more help to beleaugered New Orleans, FINALLY. Bush FINALLY spending time on hurricane relief.

They all did it AP, Reuters, NBC, MSNBC, NPR, even Fox. It was like some sort of bizarre echo chamber inhabited only by aliens from the planet melancholia. It brings to mind something I saw while my 7 year old twins were watching an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants. Spongebob ran across a dirty word scrawlwd on the side of a dumpster. His buddy Patrick explained to him it wasn't a "bad" word but rather a "sentence enhancer". You know, like, what a beautiful $#*in day.

Well the press has definately found their sentence enhancer. Unfortunaely it's more than just a sentence enhancer, it's editorial comment. Finally is an adverb which modifies meaning. It's usage is inherently subjective, thus by definition interjects the users personal opinions into the statement of fact.

Usually the author of a "straight" story waits untill at least the second or third paragraph before editorializing, not so with hurricane reporting. It's clear that in the minds of the Entrenched press, the story was soooo monumentally important that any self imposed restraint should be discarded; Straight reporting just couldn't tell the story. So we got it all, ranting, raging, tears and an unending diatribe of political commentary with a smattering of facts mixed in.

Well, with other big stories looming on the horizon, maybe soon the press will begin to cover a few other subjects.........FINALLY.

Fuel Price Backing OFF

As of 10:16 AM CT Oil has declined by $1.77 to $65.80/barrel, Gasoline is down $.08 to $2.12. Lessened demand and refineries coming online quicker than expected is likely the reason.

Don Imus to Tim Russert: Bush Doesn't Care 'Enough' About Black People

Democrats continue to alienate themselves from the mainstream of American thought. They have been so fervent and single minded spewing their pablum that they're beginning to believe their own rhetoric. This serves only to illustrate to the average citizen how deluded and out of touch with reality the left truly is.

Nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus is echoing comments of Bush-bashing rapper Kanye West, telling guest Tim Russert Tuesday morning that President Bush doesn't care "enough" about black people.

"Kanye West said during a concert on NBC that George Bush doesn't care about black people, which I don't believe," Imus began.

"What I do believe is that neither he nor anyone else cares enough about them," he told the NBC newsman. "And if you're a black person in New Orleans, what else are you supposed to think? The facts are the facts."

Imus has an excuse, he likely is significantly deficient in brain cells due to his extended bouts with drugs and alcohol. Many others including much of the black leadership have no such excuse...........or do they?

Michelle Malkin's Fit of Vapors

It's not often I disagree with the first lady of the blogospere but Michelle Malkins rantings concerning the firing of FEMA director Michael Brown couldn't be further of the mark.

He admitted that he didn't act more aggressively because as late as last Sunday he expected Katrina to be a "standard hurricane" even though the National Weather Service in New Orleans was already predicting "human suffering incredible by modern standards."

- He proved himself utterly clueless about the disaster unfolding in New Orleans. He claimed that the federal relief effort was "going relatively well" and that the security situation in New Orleans was "pretty darn good."

- He blamed the flood victims in New Orleans for failing to evacuate on time, even though local authorities failed to make municipal vehicles available to residents who could not drive or did not own their own cars.

Granted he made some ill advised statements that may actually be accurate but would be better left unsaid. Does she suggest that everyone in beltway who has done the same also be fired? That would leave Washington pretty much a ghost town.

I have yet to see Michelle or anyone for that matter actually point to a legitimate bonafide screw up by anyone in the Bush administration that adversely effected the NO operation. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but to date I have seen no one produce it.

It's human nature to asign blame whenever sonmething doesn't idealy go as it should. Sometime blame is warranted as it appears to be with both Nagin, Blanco and some other local authorities (for which evidence of bonafide screw ups do exist) sometimes it is not.
If anyone needs to be fired it's several people in Bush's press and PR office. Their performance is dismal and has been for the better part of Bush's entire Presidency. That however, I'll leave for another day.

This sort of half cocked, knee jerk reactionism is usually reserved for the likes of the MSM and the Ted Kennedy wing of the Democrat party. To see it exhibited by the usual right thinking Michelle Malkin is both disturbing and perplexing. Conservatives are known for giving people (of either party) the benefit of the doubt. Why she has suddenly donned her cheerleading outfit and jumped on the blame Bush bandwagon has this humble blogster bewildered.

Assuming that Michelle isn't suffering from Arianna Huffington Syndrome, my advice to her and all clear thinking conservatives.....take a long deep breath and think with your brain not your adrenal glands. If anyone in the Bush administration is culpable for less than acceptable performance it will come out in due time and thoughtful appropriate action can be taken. Untill that time let's remain coherent and leave the hyper emotional breast beating to the crackpot left.

Anytimes the right time for a Heineken.

Poll: Bush Not Taking Brunt of Katrina Criticism

Despite the most concerted effort by the EM to besmirch the President since the last election, the the American people are having none of it.

Sept. 4, 2005 — Americans are broadly critical of government preparedness in the Hurricane Katrina disaster — but far fewer take George W. Bush personally to task for the problems, and public anger about the response is less widespread than some critics would suggest.


Forty-six percent of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the crisis, while 47 percent disapprove. That compares poorly with Bush's 91 percent approval rating for his performance in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but it's far from the broad discontent expressed by critics of the initial days of the hurricane response. (It also almost exactly matches Bush's overall job approval rating, 45 percent, in an ABC/Post poll a week ago.)

It becomes more evident on a daily basis that the EM no longer has the ability to change peoples opinions about anything

Putting Ego Ahead of Lives

Blanco had the opportunity to put the ball in the Feds court, she declined.

Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday. The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor.

Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

This women has been a deer in the headlights for the last 10 days.

Chief Justice Rehnquist Has Died. Godspeed

Who's Idea Was it to Evacuate New Orleans?

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency on Sunday and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city as Hurricane Katrina churned toward the city with maximum sustained winds of nearly 175 mph. All of Orleans Parish falls under the order except for necessary personnel in government, emergency and some other public service categories.

People who are unable to evacuate were told to immediately report to a designated shelter.

"I wish I had better news for you, but we are facing a storm that most of us have feared," Nagin said. "I do not want to create panic, but I do want the citizens to understand that this is very serious and it's of the highest nature."

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that President Bush had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.

Just imagine if he hadn't.

Queer that Bush made the call with his urgent recommendation early on Sat and the decison to act was not untill 24 hours later on Sunday. Nagin's bomb throwing increasingly appears to be a desperate attempt to divert atention from his probable incompetence.

Update: MAYOR CRITICIZED

The criticisms of Nagin came from above as well. Numerous officials urged him to evacuate the city, but he worried about the legality of ordering people out when New Orleans has few safe hurricane shelters. Also, National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield in Miami called Nagin at home Saturday night and told him: Get people out of New Orleans.

''I could never sleep if I felt like I didn't do everything that I could to impress upon people the gravity of the situation,'' Mayfield said. ``New Orleans is never going to be the same.''

It appears that if hadn't been for the urging of Bush, Mayfield and a few others Nagin wouldn't have evacuated and 100s of 1000s would have likely perished.

Update II: On CNN just now, New Orleans Mayor Nagin, in an interview segment, (paraphrasing) said he has been yelling at the President and the Governor, and for all he knows, the "CIA could take me out".

Talk about a textbook example of paranoid narcissism coupled with delusions. Mr Nagin better forget about the CIA and focus his attention on the increasing liklihood of one of his constituents taking him out.

Quote of the Day

"They are not looters, they are undocumented shoppers"

HT Zipper

Yahoo Crapweasles

Yahoo News excludes Salvation Army from it's listings of Hurricane Donation Links.

Approved links:

* American Red Cross
* Network for Good: Hurricane Katrina
* Habitat for Humanity
* NSALA: Hurricane Katrina Animal Rescue

Who thinks this is just an oversight? Hands?

5,000 U.S. and Iraqi Troops Sweep Into City of Tall Afar

Some serious terrorist scumbag a$$ kickin.

TALL AFAR, Iraq, Sept. 2 -- It was a clear and quiet dusk, with only the call to prayer echoing from minarets across this city, when a roadside bomb blasted an M1-A1 Abrams tank, shaking nearby buildings and filling the indigo sky with a plume of black smoke.

Crackling small-arms fire clanged off the damaged vehicle from an adjacent house. U.S. soldiers answered with increasingly violent volleys -- .50-caliber machine gun bursts, tank rounds and a TOW missile -- but the shots from inside the house kept coming. Finally, an ear-splitting succession of five rounds from the tank's big gun reduced the building to flaming rubble and lit the empty streets with white sparks from exploding power transformers.

In the largest urban assault since the siege of Fallujah last November, more than 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops entered this northern city before dawn Friday. But the 45-minute firefight at day's end suggested that the insurgents who have controlled much of Tall Afar for almost a year would not relinquish it easily.

"We knew they were going to fight," said Pfc. Johnny Lara, a machine gunner from Blue Platoon, Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron of the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, who watched the clash with a reporter from a rooftop about 100 yards away. "Now it's a fight."
During the course of the day, at least 30 insurgents were killed as U.S. troops conducted house-to-house searches in the baking sun. Apache attack helicopters that circled the city of 250,000 all day killed 27 people, including eight who were attempting to conceal roadside bombs in old tires, commanders said. No American or Iraqi army casualties were reported.

Black Lawmakers Angry Over Relief Response

Idiotic quote of the day.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., said too much focus has been placed on the looting, taking away from what should be the priority: getting food, water and stability to the tens of thousands of displaced victims.

The two are intimately intertwined you perfect horses arse! There would be one helluva lot more priority on " providing food, water and stability" if the people involved didn't have to contend with the violence and looting.

Unemployment Rate Slumps to 4-Year Low

Katrina is Bush's fault, but not this....

The nation's unemployment rate dipped to a four-year low of 4.9 percent in August as companies added 169,000 jobs, a sign that the labor market continued to gain traction before Hurricane Katrina struck.

The latest snapshot of the United States' jobs climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, buttressed observations by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues that the hiring situation was gradually improving _ a bit of good news for workers as they headed into the Labor Day weekend.

But the future of the nation's employment picture is murky _ clouded by fallout from the devastating hurricane.

Friday's figures don't reflect the impact of Katrina, which slammed into New Orleans and a swath of Gulf Coast communities, because the employment information was collected before the storm hit.

The 4.9 percent unemployment rate reported for August was down a notch from July's 5 percent rate and was the lowest since August 2001.

btw don't you just love the wording"Unemployment Rate Slumps" It's known as giving a positive development a negative connotation.

Fats Domino Found in New Orleans

Luckilly he found high ground on Blueberry Hill.

One of rock 'n' roll's chief architects has been rescued from the rubble of New Orleans.

Fats Domino who had been unaccounted for in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, was plucked from the flooded city by a rescue boat.

His daughter, Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey, identified her father in a picture taken Monday night by a New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer. The singer is seen being helped from a boat by an emergency crew.

Atta boy Fats.

Pentagon Finds More Who Recall Atta Intel

I know you have Katrina on your mind but.......

WASHINGTON -- Pentagon officials said Thursday they have found three more people who recall an intelligence chart that identified Sept. 11 mastermind Mohamed Atta as a terrorist one year before the attacks on New York and Washington. But they have been unable to find the chart or other evidence that it existed.

Last month, two military officers, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Navy Capt. Scott Philpott, went public with claims that a secret unit code-named Able Danger used data mining _ searching large amounts of data for patterns _ to identify Atta in 2000. Shaffer has said three other Sept. 11 hijackers also were identified.

In recent days Pentagon officials have said they could not yet verify or disprove the assertions by Shaffer and Philpott. On Thursday, four intelligence officials provided the first extensive briefing for reporters on the outcome of their interviews with people associated with Able Danger and their review of documents.

They said they interviewed at least 80 people over a three-week period and found three, besides Philpott and Shaffer, who said they remember seeing a chart that either mentioned Atta by name as an al-Qaida operative or showed his photograph. Four of the five recalled a chart with a pre-9/11 photo of Atta; the other person recalled only a reference to his name.

Rescuers: Boat operation suspended

Unbelievable........

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As police and National Guard troops struggled to restore order Thursday in New Orleans, emergency teams suspended boat rescue operations because conditions in the flooded city were too dangerous, rescuers said.

The instructions to stand down came during a meeting with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

CNN's Rick Sanchez reported that authorities were concerned for the rescuers' safety because some people have become violent toward the rescuers.

He said officials were trying to figure out how to safely resume rescues.

Troops and police have been working to evacuate tens of thousands of people, who are growing weaker and more desperate each hour.

Looks like bin-Laden has a fertile area from which to recruit some mercinary thugs.

Forbes predicts oil will drop to $35 within a year

Steve Forbes, the billionaire business publisher, predicted that the oil bubble will burst inside a year and the price will plunge, as the impact of Hurricane Katrina sent the price of oil soaring to new record levels.

He spoke as Katrina shut down almost all the flow from the Gulf of Mexico, which provides over a quarter of the United States' oil. "I'll make a bold prediction. In 12 months you're going to see oil down to $35 to $40 a barrel," he said. "It is a huge bubble, I don't know what's going to pop it but eventually it will pop - you cannot go against supply and demand, you cannot go against the fundamentals forever."

Oil production in the gulf was down by 92pc, or 1.4m barrels, and gas production fell by 83pc as the hurricane threatened severe damage to the installations in the region. In response, the price of Brent in London spiked $3.22 a barrel to a record $68.09 while in New York oil was up $2.65 a barrel to $69.25 during late trading.

A neighbor of mine (an oil man) and I were chatting the other day and he said exactly the same thing.