Mickey Kaus makes the conservative case for leaving the liberal Americans Coming Together 527 alone. Maybe Wisconsin Right To Life can come together with Americans Coming Together and get McCain-Feingold declared the unconstitutional disaster it is.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds brings up the other point against McCain-Feingold: “although it limits free speech it’s unwilling to actually police the big-kahuna political players involved.” Exactly. Why would they? It would take big cajones to stand up to the big kahunas.

Fred, Mitt and Rudy have the Amnesty-Shamnesty issue right. The one who takes on McCain-Feingold first could take the prize. True, Fred voted for it, but isn’t there a Damascus, Tenn., with a road he can travel? Converts are often the most faithful.

UPDATE 2: No Damascus, Tenn., but there’s one in Virginia that’s close enough to do the conversion.

For only one day, but justice smiles. The Charlotte newspaper has the details.

When my Washington bureau chief told me this story, I was like, no way. Then he sent me the link.

Yes way.

The Tuscaloosa News reported: “Alberta Piggly Wiggly to get $452,000 renovation grant.”

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The Washington Post headline caught the self-pity of a couple of antiwar congressmen: “Lawmakers Describe ‘Being Slimed in the Green Zone’ “

If they were “slimed,” it was with their own words. As these congressmen visited Iraq, so they can go back home and declare the Surge is lost, someone circulated their past quotes.

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John Zogby’s latest online poll — for UPI — showed 54% of Americans believe that the war in Iraq can be won. Only 34% said the war cannot be won.

11% said the war has already been won!

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Heartbreaking news from Texas via the NY Times: “Man Sentenced to Death Wins a Reprieve.” My sympathies to the friends and family of Michael LaHood Jr.

Previous post.

The LA Times speculates that Fred Thompson may use an appearance on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” to announce his bid to run for president. Hmm. Here is what I posted on May 22:

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The NYT blogged “Leaping to Senator Craig’s Defense” which portrayed the right blogosphere as somehow defending the Republican senator from Idaho.
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Gateway Pundit has the FBI wanted poster for a Hillary campaign donor. No, it is not Norman Hsu. It’s this guy. This is why the 7 dwarves are staying in the race with “Snow White.”

Remember how Democrats decided to penalize Florida if it held its primary too early? Not to be outdone, Republicans want to penalize Florida, too.

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My weekly column in the Charleston Daily Mail is up: “Bush’s Led Zeppelin is taking off.”

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If anyone wants to know why the newspaper industry is dying it is not because of the Internet. It is because newspapers are run by idiots who think they must educate rather than inform readers. Consider the sympathy given the man who will be executed later today for his role in the murder of Michael LaHood Jr. on the streets of San Antonio at 2 a.m. on Aug. 15, 1996.

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Bob Packwood, Mark Foley, Larry Craig — am I alone in noticing how quickly Republicans move to oust any Republican who uses public office for sexual favors? Bob Packwood kissed unwilling women. When exposed early in the Clinton administration, Republicans forced him to resign his Senate seat.

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Grouchy Old Cripple catches one.

My Washington bureau chief (well, one of them) tipped me to this entitlement for rich people:

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Matt Drudge reported that Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona told CNN: “I believe that he — that he pled guilty, and he had the opportunity to plead innocent. So I think he should resign.”

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Leo DiCaprio’s “The 11th Hour” movie drew a quick rebuke from Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace and chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. Writing in the Vancouver Sun today, Moore said:

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The race is on between the insurgents and the Democratic Party over who can surrender in Iraq first. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr beat the Democrats to the punch by unilaterally and immediately suspending all his attacks on U.S. forces for 6 months.

How do you say “No mas” in Arabic?

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The BBC offers today’s proof that the most profound statement on technology is the title of the song in the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” — “Don’t Dream It; Be It.” The Beeb reported that:

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Taking a summer break, “Name That Party” is trotting out a possible spinoff — “Name That Poverty Rate.” Today, we visit the New York Times, which two years ago headlined: “U.S. Poverty Rate Was Up Last Year. Its lead paragraph:

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After considerable wrestling with my conscience, I have decided to censor Chris Muir’s “Day By Day” cartoon because today’s strip is too offensive to my sensibilities.

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The Wall Street Journal’s story on Tuesday about this little green house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. in Daly City, Calif., and its connection to Hillary Clinton’s various political campaigns has been picked up elsewhere. The Los Angeles Times reported a millionaire who once listed this address as his on federal election documents is a fugitive from justice. That’s a WSJ photo of him and Hillary from 2005.

In his final hours as president, Bill Clinton pardoned billionaire fugitive from justice, Marc Rich, after Rich’s ex-wife donated millions to the Clinton presidential library.

Rudy Giuliani prosecuted Marc Rich.

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Baldilocks has a pet peeve. I offer a solution. Hey, I live in Poca!

My Washington bureau chief continues to follow the money in his endless quest to stop the pork spending. Today the chief reported:

“2007 is the year of the golden pig on the Chinese calendar. See how Congress is celebrating:

Ø Federal government would pay 65% of “costly endeavor” to make a river that flows upstream in California. Judy O’Rourke of the LA Daily News reported.

Ø $50 million in earmarks produces “the most high-tech movable bridge in the U.S.” for Florida’s Treasure Island. Nick Johnson of the St. Pete Times reported.

Ø $250,000 earmark for Alabama community “to promote a more pedestrian feel.” Jerry Rutledge of the Ledger-Enquirer reported.

Ø No doctors at federal funded health clinic. Ken Thorbourne of the Jersey Journal reported.

Ø Inquiry over potential conflicts of interests with recipients of government financing has shifted to former Congressional aide. David Kocieniewski of the NY Times reported.

Unbelievable. It is the Robert C. Byrd-ing of America. Let’s blow money making rivers flow upstream and building health clinics without doctors — instead of allowing taxpayers to keep more of their own money to take care of themselves and to invest in commercial enterprises.

Every year is the year of the Golden Pig in Washington.

Damn that George Bush. First he shrank the deficit too fast. Then he dropped the unemployment level too low. Now the nation is running out of poor people.

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New York Times, Aug. 27, 2007:

“GREENSBORO, N.C. — The retirement of thousands of baby boomer teachers coupled with the departure of younger teachers frustrated by the stress of working in low-performing schools is fueling a crisis in teacher turnover that is costing school districts substantial amounts of money as they scramble to fill their ranks for the fall term.”

Sounds familiar. Where have I read this before? Let me check the Charleston Newspapers electronic library.

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A little green house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. in Daly City, Calif., may spell big trouble for Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York as she pursues the presidency.

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News outlets were sure on Monday to identify the party of Republican Sen. Larry Craig of idaho who was caught in a homosexual sting operation in a bathroom at a Minnesota airport earlier this summer. The lone exception was the Idaho Statesman. I congratulate all news outlets that identified him properly. They include AP, CNN, the LA Times, the New York Times, the Star-Tribune in Minneapolis, and the Washington Post. Save this for future reference.

UPDATE: Oklahoma state Sen. Jeff Rabon was involved in a multiple car accident last night and arrested for DUI. AP failed to identify his party. Backsliding or was it because he’s a Democrat? Don’t tap your foot while you decide …

Remember those Jane Fonda workout videos in the 1980s? Turns out high-impact aerobics was the worst thing people could do to their knees, CBS News reported:

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My Washington bureau has been working overtime collecting the pork spending from across the nation. Bike paths, planes that don’t fly, ferries … money that should be used to keep America’s infrastructure in good repair is being squandered. Check out these all-too-true horror stories.

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Remember when the No. 3 Democrat in the House said if the Surge worked it would be “a real big problem for us” (Democrats)? The video is here. Guess what? Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee remembers and he’s using it to raise funds:

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In 1981, it fell upon Israel to bomb Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from getting nukes. Now, Iran is working on its bomb. But what is this? France is stepping forward with a threat?

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned.

This is a golden opportunity for Democrats to divorce themselves from the fringe left.

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There is no Wikipedia entry for Michael LaHood Jr. But Kenneth Foster? Oh there is one longer-than-many-presidents-receive tribute to Kenneth Foster. It ends with this:

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Brian May of Queen getting his doctorate in astronomy is not alone in having a life after rock ‘n’ roll. Soccer Dad looks at Skunk Baxter.

Congressman Christopher Shays of Connecticut is the biggest RINO (Republican In Name Only) in Congress. So you know something is seriously flawed with the Democratic leadership when a fellow like Shays complains about the witch hunts on Capitol Hill. Andrew Miga of AP quoted Shays as saying:

“It’s the kind of thing that I think might happen in a place like Russia where the party in power goes after the party that they want never to be in power. This kind of stuff just grosses me out.”

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Some sobering news from the Times of India on Sunday, which said, “the country that has had to face the worst of terrorist attacks on its own soil, barring war-torn Iraq, is India.”

The newspaper reported:

India has since 2004 lost more lives to terrorist incidents than all of North America, South America, Central America, Europe and Eurasia put together. All of these vast swathes of the globe lost a total of 3,280 lives in terrorist incidents between January 2004 and March this year. India alone lost 3,674 lives over the same period of three years and three months.

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Some unsolicited campaign advice to pretty boys John Edwards and Barack Obama: Visit a strip joint. Kevin Rudd did — at taxpayer expense — and now he is well on his way toward becoming prime minister of Australia.

The latest Herald Sun/Galaxy poll shows Rudd’s Labor Party is 14 points ahead — despite a budget surplus by the incumbent Coalition Party.

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This report from Iraq:

There at the first corner, I see it. New glass. Someone has put new glass in a shop. Someone only installs new glass when they think it won’t get broken. New glass is confidence.

Via Instapundit.

Olen York, a reader of this blog, provided the following information concerning the Putnam Co. Board of Health’s decision to return the smoking-ban regulation to the 1996 version, rather than adopting the proposed 2006 amendment, which was rescinded in July 2007 for being ineffectively enacted (failure to have a majority vote in favor of the amendment).

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Dr. Sanity hosts the Carnival of the Insanities.

There’s a big stink over an “Opus” cartoon. They still make these things? Anyway, some newspapers ain’t running, some are. Salon capitalizes on the “controversy” by showing it. At least someone on the Left understands that the Jihadists are worse than the Republicans.

Sorry. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but Australian researchers found it has no effect on cancer. Eating fruits and vegetables is nice, but they are not a cancer preventative.

Oh and fiber does not prevent — as the Aussies put it — bowel cancer.

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I’m the Rodney Dangerfield of journalism. You would think someone in the newspaper business in Charleston, SOUTH CAROLINA, would get it right. It’s in the last paragraph.

Doug Ross on the latest press release from the Council on American-Quaker Relations. The real religion of peace.

This clip from “Jihad: The Musical” almost makes me want to get a passport, buy a ticket to London and go see the show. Almost.

“I Wanna Be Like Osama.”

Hat tip: My Barboursville bureau chief.

“But questions remain about how long the West can weather the problems that come with low unemployment.” — Matt Gouras of the Associated Press.

Damn that George Bush. He is making things too good for the American people.

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Wonkette caught Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of This Here State waiting for a plane:

While waiting in the interminable security line at Dulles, I saw Senator Jay Rockefeller waiting further back in the same line. I was surprised, and impressed, that he was waiting with everyone else and didn’t go in the premium passenger line. Also, dude is TALL.

His politics suck, but I do like that he doesn’t ordinarily throw his weight around. That’s class.

STORY OF THE WEEK: President Bush to his critics: “You want to play ‘Iraq-is-Vietnam’? OK, fine. We’ll play that. Boat people. Re-education camps. Killing fields. No free speech. No religious freedom. A per capita income 30 years later that’s below every neighboring state. Yea, that was some ‘peace’ the Democrats brought there.”

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UPDATE: They did it. Democrats are idiots.

ORIGINAL POST: Remember how Al Gore and his Democratic Party minions complained — erroneously — that Florida voters were “disenfranchised” in 2000? That was a sour grapes. But this isn’t: AP reported the national Democratic Party wants to reduce Florida’s representation in the 2008 Democratic National Convention. (more…)

An imaginary conversation.

Zbigniew Brzezinski: Hi. I was the national security adviser to the president who lost the world’s No. 4 oil exporter as an ally. I was the national security adviser to the president whose response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan was to boycott the Olympics, setting American foreign policy so far back that the Taliban allowed Osama bin Laden to set up a base there from which to attack the United States. How may I help you?

Hillary Clinton: Praise Barack Obama. Diss me.

He did.

Kudos to Chuck Simmins.

The Surge is working according to those who are returning from Iraq. Bill Kristol said so on the “Today” show this morning (I have the video). Democratic Congressman Brian Baird — who voted against the war — wrote today in the Seattle Times: “Our troops have earned more time.”

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By injecting the aftermath of Vietnam into the post-Iraq War debate, President Bush opened the refrigerator door — and that sent the apologists for Ho Chi Minh and Pol Pot scurrying. Somehow the millions of boat people and the millions sent to concentration camps — re-education camps — are glossed over. One man’s death a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic, as Josef Stalin said.

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Call him Dr. Queen. Guitarist Brian May did not go through 37 years of astronomy school just to be called Mr. May, thank you.

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I am amused by how often the Brits get the obvious things about America that we Americans cannot see. Today’s example: Rosemary Righter of the Times of London on the president’s speech to the VFW.

Mr Bush’s case is that America’s gravest mistakes in Iraq are behind it, that the counter-insurgency strategy devised by General Petraeus is yielding results, but that the military have a question: “Will their elected leaders in Washington pull the rug out from under them just as they’re gaining momentum and changing the dynamic on the ground?” For elected leaders, read Democrats. In historical perspective, the Democrats do not come well out of the Vietnam debacle.

The whole thing is here. Hat tip: my Logan and South Hills bureau chiefs.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds linked. Thanks.

Ever notice how suicidal the left-o-sphere is? No sooner did Nancy Pelosi become speaker than Cindy Sheehan was running against her. Now there is a group that wants to turn the Democratic National Convention next year into Chicago 1968. Great strategy: Let’s turn Hillary into Hubert Humphrey.

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John Broder of the New York Times reported that the Bush administration on Friday will “issue a regulation on Friday that would enshrine the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal. The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams.”

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The gangland slaughter of 3 college students in New Jersey and sundry other violent crimes by illegal aliens forced that state’s attorney general, Anne Milgram, to order all police officers in New Jersey to determine the immigration status of the people they arrest. Yes, you should identify whom you arrest.

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After William F. Buckley Jr., it is a tossup between economist Thomas Sowell and psychiatrist Charles Krauthammer as to which conservative columnist I like best. That neither man is a newspaperman makes them far more readable and less picayune. I noticed this summer that Dr. Krauthammer’s appearances on the Brit Hume show on Fox News have increased to daily.

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Michael Isikoff, the reporter who broke the Monica Lewinsky story only to have his editors at Newsweek spike the story, has caught Bill Clinton in another lie: He never authorized the killing of Osama bin Laden.

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President Bush addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention today in Kansas City.

The enemy who attacked us despises freedom, and harbors resentment at the slights he believes America and Western nations have inflicted on his people. He fights to establish his rule over an entire region. And over time, he turns to a strategy of suicide attacks destined to create so much carnage that the American people will tire of the violence and give up the fight.

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Bette Midler, the singer with the zingers, told Extra last December about her New York restoration project: “We love trees, we’re going to plant a million trees.”

She left off the part where first, she was going to kill 230 trees in Hawaii.

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Lawhawk at A Blog For All has the latest on the inability of the Star-Ledger newspaper to print in one little word.

On. Dec. 2, 2006, on his second tour of duty in Iraq, Sgt. John Kriesel of the Minnesota National Guard lost both his legs when a bomb exploded outside Fallujah. It killed two of his friends. His message to Congress: It’s no time to quit.

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Poca is in Putnam County, just west of Charleston and Kanawha County. Last night, our board of health repealed its indoor smoking ban. From the AP in its entirety:

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The BBC is abuzz with news that Nicki Jex, 27, of Braunstone, Leicester, pleaded guilty this week to robbing a bookie joint last December.

Guns are rare in England, and so Jex used his girlfriend’s vibrator for the heist.

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A Muslim in Iraq sacrificed his life for a greater cause — not to kill Americans, but to save them.

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Miriam Hernandez of KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported police are investigating 2 reports that VA hospitals are dumping patients on skid row.

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On Feb. 17th, every single Democratic senator (except the hospitalized Tim Johnson) voted for cloture on S. 574 which stated: “Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.”

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The first paragraph of today’s story in the Washington Post:

U.S. Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) has been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery for allegedly pushing an airline employee at Dulles International Airport on Sunday during a dispute over baggage, authorities said.

Reporter Jonathan Mummolo did it right! Took him two clicks to type “D-”

How come when she was finally deported, Elvira Arellano didn’t take her American-born brat with her?

After all, Karen Jepp took home her quads when she gave birth to them in Great Falls, Mont., because no hospital in Canada could hand a quadruple birth.

I posted this on Aug. 13:

AP quoted Michelle Obama: “If you can’t run your own house, you certainly can’t run the White House.”

I just cannot see Barack cheating on her. Can you?

Drudge has her saying the same thing today.

Well, she has distinguished herself from Mrs. Edwards, who seems to think her hubby is running against Ann Coulter.

My Oslo bureau chief reported that Norway is so overrun with polar bears that some high school students are being trained to shoot polar bears. The kids cannot leave their villages unarmed.

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DC schools are among the most expensive and least efficient in the country. The government spends nearly $13,000 per student per year. Less than 75% graduate. The Washington Examiner has a good editorial today that calls for action. I say, privatize it. Take the money, give half of it to the Catholics for tuition for DC kids and give the other half back to taxpayers.

The Confederate Yankee: “Misfire: AP’s Bogus Ammo Shortage Story.”