Oh, Shut UP, Sinead

DUBLIN (AFP) – Retired pop singer Sinead O’Connor (news) made an emotional plea to be left alone, in a full page advertisement in the Irish Examiner newspaper. The 2,500-word appeal followed media coverage of her call for a campaign to rid the country’s children of head lice. One newspaper described it as her latest “wacky crusade”.

Well, head lice clearly is a problem… and perhaps her interest in this problem can be best explained by examination of a recent picture of hers.

Says O’Connor:

“As a full-time mother with three children she said, “I just want to be a little old lady now, and not be all controversial and not be bashed and called crazy and laughed at when I open my mouth to sing or speak.” Acknowledging she was “unconventional,” she asked the media to “please stop hurting me and maybe I could start being more bloody useful. ….. Ye know if I were really as crazy as ye make out I am, I would deserve compassion, not bashing.”

Look, Sinead, I’m sorry you feel so put upon. But perhaps the public understands that you’re not really crazy…They apparently hold you to a higher standard than you yourself do.

Like, for example, you actually thought you could sing. Apparently the public knew better than you in that instance, as well.

Another unusual bird, Cindy Lauper, got away with the “She’s so unusual” act because she never mixed her act with anger, and most certainly, never directed her anger at those buying her music. It’s a lesson for whatever reason, you never learned… possibly because she unlike you, undertood it WAS an act. You were actually stupid enough to think people were taking your tripe seriously.

It should be said too, that she also had another advantage… she could actually come close to singing… her attempts at it were generally done without leaving people wretching in agony.

Same lesson the Dixie Chumps got: Want to stop being controversial?
Fine. Great.

Step one:
Shut up.
Step two: Repeat step one.

Ann Althouse speaks, I suspect for a lot of center-left Democrats.

Boortz points this one up today, and calls it required reading. I concur.Arthur Chrenkoff in the WSJ

Meanwhile, the BBC offers this vox populi from Iraqi women. While the concern about security is a common thread, another one is a strong streak of optimism. Says Essraa, an 18-year old student: “The most important development to come out of the war was freedom. We were denied it, especially freedom of thought. This to me is very important. Another important consequence was our ability now to access modern means of communications, such satellite and computers. Satellite television was banned under the previous regime because Saddam wanted to keep Iraq isolated from the rest of the world so he could have total control over Iraqis. Computers were available before the war, but the prices were prohibitive. Now, thanks to our ability to access the internet, we are able to contact our relatives abroad and to talk to them without fearing the eavesdropping of the ‘mukhabarat’ (the previous regime’s secret intelligence service).”

Samira, a 31-year old engineer, adds: “In my view the impact of the recent war, despite its many negative sides, was less severe than that of earlier ones. I think the negative aspects that have come to the surface were not caused by the war as such or by the American occupation alone. Rather, these things happened because of the change of the governing regime. A fall of a regime is not a small matter. ”

Fawzia, a 36-year old teacher, says: “On the positive side, we saw an increase in our incomes. Teachers, too, have enjoyed a rise in their salaries, with the result that the practice of private tutoring is on the decline. Teachers now do want to teach and look after their pupils. Among other positive developments have been the refurbishment of school buildings, the printing of new school textbooks and the provision of free stationary to pupils. The cost of food is lower now too and we are now free to say what we want to criticize without fear.”

And this from Um Samir, a 51-year old housewife: “The last war was not as big a catastrophe for our people and for my family as the Kuwait war, which brought us much pain. And despite the fact that electricity is in short supply and that there is fear because of the security situation, our material situation has improved a lot.”

In a similar vein, Ahood Aabass, 42, who became one of Iraq’s first elected officials and the first woman elected to the new governing council in Basra, and who is now visiting the United States together with Tamara Sarafa Quinn, director of the Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq, reminisces about Saddam’s days:

Jer children went to schools that were without windows, doors and toilets, and where teachers made as little as $3 a month to teach. Water in her city of Basra had worms in it, and women had little, if any, right to freedom. . . .

Both women said great strides have been made in education, human rights, health care and infrastructure improvements. Iraq has seen schools reopened, refurbished and re-painted. Some 159,000 new desks were distributed to the schools, millions of new textbooks have been printed and 20 million Iraqi citizens now have clean water and sanitation amenities they didn’t have before. Teachers are also now making between $300 and $500 a month to teach, which Quinn said is a great deal to the Iraqis.

Aabass and Quinn have this to say to the people of the United States:

We have very good things happening in Iraq because of help from America. I am very thankful and grateful for our liberty and our freedom because with (America’s) help, we can get Saddam Hussein out of our country. I feel very sorry for the families who gave their sons and their daughters who were killed in our country. They are putting their lives on the line to help us.

Now, do you suppose you’ll hear these voices on the CBS Eveining News with Dan Rather?

Cherenkoff gets into some serious detail.. the article is long, but worth the read, but bottom lines at: The US pres aside from Fox, will not give you the real story in Iraq.  What they will give you does seem to fall directly in line withwhat John Kerry and his team are tring to sell the American people about Iraq, however.

And what do you know… Chrenkoff is a fellow BlogSpotter…

TIME magazine got a few questions off to Sumner redstone somehow, recently… and while they give a small insight into the man’s thining though the operning rouncs of the Rathergate saga, they do nothing to change any of my infitial comments on the matter of Redstone’s current postion, as well as my comments on his long record of supporting the far left, and his infleunce on the CBS News people.

The CBS people were following the boss’ lead here… and now the Boss is trying to save his company from the consequences of that.

John Fund on Voter Fraud on National Review Online

WorldNetDaily’s Joe Farrah explains.

Power Line extends the documentation of Democrats trying to steal this election… this time in Wisonsin… a starte which to my memory tend to vote liberal anyway. That’s a striking point… it appears the Democrats are not sure they can even hold states that have voted for them in the past, if they stick to honest means.

000
WTNT31 KNHC 260252
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
HURRICANE JEANNE ADVISORY NUMBER 50
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
11 PM EDT SAT SEP 25 2004

…EYE OF HURRICANE JEANNE BEGINNING TO MOVE ONSHORE OVER MARTIN AND
ST. LUCIE COUNTIES…

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST
FROM FLORIDA CITY NORTHWARD TO ST. AUGUSTINE…INCLUDING LAKE
OKEECHOBEE.  THE HURRICANE WARNING FOR A PORTION OF THE SOUTHEAST
FLORIDA COAST MAY BE DISCONTINUED EARLY ON SUNDAY.

AT 11 PM EDT…0300Z…THE GOVERNMENT OF THE BAHAMAS HAS DOWNGRADED
THE HURRICANE WARNING TO A TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR GRAND
BAHAMA…THE ABACOS…BIMINI…AND THE BERRY ISLANDS…AND
DISCONTINUED THE HURRICANE WARNINGS FOR ELEUTHERA…ANDROS…AND
NEW PROVIDENCE ISLAND.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT
FROM NORTH OF ST. AUGUSTINE NORTHWARD TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GEORGIA.

AT 11 PM EDT…0300Z…THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED
WESTWARD ALONG THE GULF COAST OF NORTHERN FLORIDA TO INDIAN PASS.  A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS NOW EFFECT FOR THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA
FROM EAST CAPE SABLE NORTHWARD TO INDIAN PASS.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM ENGLEWOOD TO THE SUWANNEE
RIVER.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SOUTH OF FLORIDA CITY
AROUND THE SOUTHERN END OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA TO JUST SOUTH OF
EAST CAPE SABLE INCLUDING FLORIDA BAY…AND FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS
NORTH OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE.

AT 11 PM EDT…0300Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE JEANNE WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 27.2 NORTH… LONGITUDE 80.0 WEST OR ABOUT 15 MILES
MILES EAST OF STUART FLORIDA.

JEANNE IS MOVING SLIGHTLY NORTH OF WEST NEAR 13 MPH…AND A GRADUAL
TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.  ON
THIS TRACK THE CENTER WILL BE MOVING INLAND NEAR MIDNIGHT…AND
ACROSS CENTRAL FLORIDA ON SUNDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH…WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
JEANNE IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE
SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE.  STRONGER WINDS…ESPECIALLY IN
GUSTS…ARE LIKELY TO OCCUR ON HIGH RISE BUILDINGS.  JEANNE WILL
BEGIN TO WEAKEN AFTER THE CENTER MOVES INLAND.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70 MILES FROM THE
CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 205 MILES.  A FLORIDA COASTAL MONITORING PROGRAM WIND TOWER NEAR
VERO BEACH RECENTLY REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 68 MPH WITH A GUST
TO 94 MPH.

AFTER THE ISSUANCE OF THE FORECAST/ADVISORY…A NOAA HURRICANE
HUNTER AIRCRAFT REPORTED A MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE OF 953
MB…28.14 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 4 TO 7 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS…ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES…CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL
ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST.  A STORM SURGE OF UP TO 5 FEET ABOVE
THE PRESENT WATER LEVEL IS LIKELY TO OCCUR MAINLY ON THE EAST SIDE
OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE.

TIDES OF 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WARNED AREA
ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST….POSSIBLY REACHING 3 TO 6 FEET IN
AREAS OF ONSHORE FLOW NORTH OF TAMPA BAY.

RAINFALL TOTALS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES…WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS
…ARE POSSIBLE NEAR THE PATH OF JEANNE OVER FLORIDA.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE EAST FLORIDA
PENINSULA TONIGHT.

REPEATING THE 11 PM EDT POSITION…27.2 N… 80.0 W.  MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST NEAR 13 MPH.  MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…115 MPH.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE… 953 MB.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

INTERMEDIATE ADVISORIES WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 1 AM EDT AND 3 AM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE
ADVISORY AT 5 AM EDT.

FORECASTER PASCH

Power Line notes the Democrats are already trying to steal the election in Ohio, and quotes from the Plain Dealer, in Cleveland…….

“More than 1,000 voter registration forms and absentee ballot requests may be fraudulent in Lake and Summit counties, where investigations of irregularities are broadening. “

Oh, and yes, we know it’s the Democrats.

“Lake election and law enforcement officials said their investigation is centered on absentee registration attempts by the nonpartisan NAACP’s National Voter Fund and an anti-Bush, nonprofit group called Americans Coming Together, or ACT Ohio.

Explains Hindrocket:

“Americans Coming Together” is a shadow organization that is basically a surrogate for the Democratic Party

Where’s the outrage, people? For that matter, where’s the coverage? Will we see this story on SeeBSNoose with DiaperDan tonight, I wonder?

To my readers: I’m posting this because frankly, I want this text to be available in the Google (etc) Engines going forward. I don’t see it there at the moment, and after a week or so the news groups will be pulling this ofline, and so it will be mostly unavailable, at any rate.

I want to have people able to refer back to this text in the next four years.
I particularly want it online NOW, because it tells the true tale of Iraq… not the one John Kerry’s been telling you.

“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, it’s my distinct honor and great privilege to speak to you today on behalf of Iraq’s interim government and its people.

It’s my honor to come to Congress and to thank this nation and its people for making our cause your cause, our struggle your struggle.

Before I turn to my government’s plan for Iraq, I have three important messages for you today.

First, we are succeeding in Iraq.

It’s a tough struggle with setbacks, but we are succeeding.

I have seen some of the images that are being shown here on television. They are disturbing. They focus on the tragedies, such as the brutal and barbaric murder of two American hostages this week.

We Iraqis are grateful to you, America, for your leadership and your sacrifice for our liberation and our opportunity to start anew.

Third, I stand here today as the prime minister of a country emerging finally from dark ages of violence, aggression, corruption and greed. Like almost every Iraqi, I have many friends who were murdered, tortured or raped by the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Well over a million Iraqis were murdered or are missing. We estimate at least 300,000 in mass graves, which stands as monuments to the inhumanity of Saddam’s regime. Thousands of my Kurdish brothers and sisters were gassed to death by Saddam’s chemical weapons.

Millions more like me were driven into exile. Even in exile, as I myself can vouch, we were not safe from Saddam.

And as we lived under tyranny at home, so our neighbors lived in fear of Iraq’s aggression and brutality. Reckless wars, use of weapons of mass destruction, the needless loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the financing and exporting of terrorism, these were Saddam’s legacy to the world.

My friends, today we are better off, you are better off and the world is better off without Saddam Hussein.

Your decision to go to war in Iraq was not an easy one but it was the right one.

There are no words that can express the debt of gratitude that future generations of Iraqis will owe to Americans. It would have been easy to have turned your back on our plight, but this is not the tradition of this great country, nor for the first time in history you stood up with your allies for freedom and democracy.

Ladies and gentlemen, I particularly want to thank you in the United States Congress for your brave vote in 2002 to authorize American men and women to go to war to liberate my country, because you realized what was at stake. And I want to thank you for your continued commitment last year when you voted to grant Iraq a generous reconstruction and security funding package.

I have met many of you last year and I have in Iraq. It’s a tribute to your commitment to our country that you have come to see firsthand the challenges and the progress we have and we are making.

Ladies and gentlemen, the costs now have been high. As we have lost our loved ones in this struggle, so have you. As we have mourned, so have you.

This is a bitter price of combating tyranny and terror.

Our hearts go to the families, every American who has given his or her life and every American who has been wounded to help us in our struggle.

Now we are determined to honor your confidence and sacrifice by putting into practice in Iraq the values of liberty and democracy, which are so dear to you and which have triumphed over tyranny across our world.

Creating a democratic, prosperous and stable nation, where differences are respected, human rights protected, and which lives in peace with itself and its neighbor, is our highest priority, our sternest challenge and our greatest goal. It is a vision, I assure you, shared by the vast majority of the Iraqi people. But there are the tiny minority who despise the very ideas of liberty, of peace, of tolerance, and who will kill anyone, destroy anything, to prevent Iraq and its people from achieving this goal.

Among them are those who nurse fantasies of the former regime returning to power. There are fanatics who seek to impose a perverted vision of Islam in which the face of Allah cannot be seen. And there are terrorists, including many from outside Iraq, who seek to make our country the main battleground against freedom, democracy and civilization.

For the struggle in Iraq today is not about the future of Iraq only. It’s about the worldwide war between those who want to live in peace and freedom, and terrorists. Terrorists strike indiscriminately at soldiers, at civilians, as they did so tragically on 9/11 in America, and as they did in Spain and Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia in my country and many others.

So in Iraq we confront both, insurgency and the global war on terror with their destructive forces sometimes overlapping. These killers may be just a tiny fraction of our 27 million population, but with their guns and their suicide bombs to intimidate and to frighten all the people of Iraq, I can tell you today, they will not succeed.

For these murderers have no political program or cause other than push our country back into tyranny. Their agenda is no different than terrorist forces that have struck all over the world, including your own country on September 11th. There lies the fatal weakness: The insurgency in Iraq is destructive but small and it has not and will never resonate with the Iraqi people.

The Iraqi citizens know better than anyone the horrors of dictatorship. This is past we will never revisit.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me turn now to our plan which we have developed to meet the real challenges which Iraq faces today, a plan that we are successfully implementing with your help. The plan has three basic parts: building democracy, defeating the insurgency and improving the quality of ordinary Iraqis.

The political strategy in our plan is to isolate the terrorists from the communities in which they operate. We are working hard to involve as many people as we can in the political process to cut the ground from under the terrorists’ feet.

In troubled areas across the country, government representatives are meeting with local leaders. They are offering amnesty to those who realize the error of their ways. They are making clear that there can be no compromise with terror, that all Iraqis have the opportunity to join the side of order and democracy, and that they should use the political process to address their legitimate concerns and hopes.

I am a realist. I know that terrorism cannot be defeated with political tools only. But we can weaken it, ending local support, help us to tackle the enemy head-on, to identify, isolate and eradicate this cancer.

Let me provide you with a couple of examples of where this political plan already is working.

In Samarra, the Iraqi government has tackled the insurgents who once controlled the city.

Following weeks of discussions between government officials and representatives, coalition forces and local community leaders, regular access to the city has been restored. A new provincial council and governor have been selected, and a new chief of police has been appointed. Hundreds of insurgents have been pushed out of the city by local citizens, eager to get with their lives.

Today in Samarra, Iraqi forces are patrolling the city, in close coordination with their coalition counterparts.

In Talafa, a city northwest of Baghdad, the Iraqi government has reversed an effort by insurgents to arrest, control (inaudible) the proper authorities. Iraqi forces put down the challenge and allowed local citizens to choose a new mayor and police chief. Thousands of civilians have returned to the city. And since their return, we have launched a large program of reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me turn now to our military strategy. We plan to build and maintain security forces across Iraq. Ordinary Iraqis are anxious to take over entirely this role and to shoulder all the security burdens of our country as quickly as possible.

For now, of course, we need the help of our American and coalition partners. But the training of Iraqi security forces is moving forward briskly and effectively.

The Iraqi government now commands almost 50,000 armed and combat- ready Iraqis.

By January it will be some 145,000. And by the end of next year, some 250,000 Iraqis.

The government has accelerated the development of Iraqi special forces, and the establishment of a counter-terrorist strike force to tackle specific problems caused by insurgencies.

Our intelligence is getting better every day. You have seen that the successful resolution of the Najaf crisis, and then the targeted attacks against insurgents in Falluja.

These new Iraqi forces are rising to the challenge. They are fighting on behalf of sovereign Iraqi government, and therefore their performance is improving every day. Working closely with the coalition allies, they are striking their enemies wherever they hide, disrupting operations, destroying safe houses and removing terrorist leaders.

But improving the everyday lives of Iraqis, tackling our economic problems is also essential to our plan. Across the country there is a daily progress, too. Oil pipelines are being repaired. Basic services are being improved. The homes are being rebuilt. Schools and hospitals are being rebuilt. The clinics are open and reopened. There are now over 6 million children at school, many of them attending one of the 2,500 schools that have been renovated since liberation.

Last week, we completed a national polio vaccination campaign, reaching over 90 percent of all Iraqi children.

We’re starting work on 150 new health centers across the country. Millions of dollars in economic aid and humanitarian assistance from this country and others around the world are flowing into Iraq. For this, again, I want to thank you.

And so today, despite the setbacks and daily outrages, we can and should be hopeful for the future.

In Najaf and Kufa, this plan has already brought success. In those cities a firebrand cleric had taken over Shia Islam’s holiest sites in defiance of the government and the local population. Immediately, the Iraqi government ordered the Iraqi armed forces into action to use military force to create conditions for political success.

Together with the coalition partners, Iraqi forces cleaned out insurgents from everywhere in the city, capturing hundreds and killing many more.

At the same time, the government worked with political leaders and with Ayatollah Sistani to find a peaceful solution to the occupation of the shrine. We were successful. The shrine was preserved. Order was restored. And Najaf and Kufa were returned to their citizens.

Today the foreign media have lost interest and left, but millions of dollars in economic aid and humanitarian assistance are now flowing into the cities. Ordinary citizens are once again free to live and worship at these places.

As we move forward, the next major milestone will be holding of the free and fair national and local elections in January next.

I know that some have speculated, even doubted, whether this date can be met. So let me be absolutely clear: Elections will occur in Iraq on time in January because Iraqis want elections on time.

For the skeptics who do not understand the Iraqi people, they do not realize how decades of torture and repression feed our desire for freedom. At every step of the political process to date the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people has proved the doubters wrong.

They said we would miss January deadline to pass the interim constitution.

We proved them wrong.

They warned that there could be no successful handover of sovereignty by the end of June. We proved them wrong. A sovereign Iraqi government took over control two days early.

They doubted whether a national conference could be staged this August. We proved them wrong.

Despite intimidation and violence, over 1,400 citizens, a quarter of them women, from all regions and from every ethnic, religious and political grouping in Iraq, elected a national council.

And I pledge to you today, we’ll prove them wrong again over the elections.

Our independent electoral commission is working with the United Nations, the multinational force and our own Iraqi security forces to make these elections a reality. In 15 out of our 18 Iraqi provinces we could hold elections tomorrow. Although this is not what we see in your media, it is a fact.

Your government, our government and the United Nations are all helping us mobilizing the necessary resources to fund voter registration and information programs. We will establish up to 30,000 polling sites, 130,000 election workers, and all other complex aspects mounting a general election in a nation of 27 million before the end of January next.

We already know that terrorists and former regime elements will do all they can to disrupt these elections. There would be no greater success for the terrorists if we delay and no greater blow when the elections take place, as they will, on schedule.

The Iraqi elections may not be perfect, may not be the best elections that Iraq will ever hold. They will no doubt be an excuse for violence from those that despise liberty, as were the first elections in Sierra Leone, South Africa or Indonesia.

But they will take place, and they will be free and fair. And though they won’t be the end of the journey toward democracy, they will be a giant step forward in Iraq’s political evolution.

They will pave the way for a government that reflects the world, and has the confidence of the Iraqi people.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is our strategy for moving Iraq steadily toward the security and democracy and prosperity our people crave.

But Iraq cannot accomplish this alone. The resolve and will of the coalition in supporting a free Iraq is vital to our success.

The Iraqi government needs the help of the international community, the help of countries that not only believe in the Iraqi people but also believe in the fight for freedom and against tyranny and terrorism everywhere.

Already, Iraq has many partners. The transition in Iraq from brutal dictatorship to freedom and democracy is not only an Iraqi endeavor, it is an international one. More than 30 countries are represented in Iraq with troops on the ground in harm’s way. We Iraqis are grateful for each and every one of these courageous men and women.

United Nations Resolution 1546 passed in June 2004, endorsed the Iraqi interim government and pledged international support for Iraq upcoming elections. The G-8, the European Union and NATO have also issued formal statements of support.

NATO is now helping with one of Iraq’s most urgent needs, the training of Iraqi security forces. I am delighted by the new agreement to step up the pace and scope of this training.

The United Nations has reestablished its mission in Iraq, a new United Nations special representative has been appointed and a team of United Nations personnel is now operating in Baghdad.

Many more nations have committed to Iraq’s future in the form of economic aid. We Iraqis are aware how international this effort truly is.

But our opponents, the terrorists, also understand all too well that this is an international effort. And that’s why they have targeted members of the coalition.

I know the pain this causes. I know it is difficult but the coalition must stand firm.

When governments negotiate with terrorists, everyone in the free world suffers. When political leaders sound the siren of defeatism in the face of terrorism, it only encourage more violence.

Working together, we will defeat the killers, and we will do this by refusing to bargain about our most fundamental principles.

Ladies and gentlemen, good will aside, I know that many observers around the world honestly wonder if we in Iraq really can restore our economy, be good neighbors, guarantee the democratic rule of law and overcome the enemies who seek to tear us down. I understand why, faced with the daily headlines, there are these doubts. I know, too, that there will be many more setbacks and obstacles to overcome.

But these doubters risk underestimating our country and they risk fueling the hopes of the terrorists. Despite our problems, despite our recent history, no one should doubt that Iraq is a country of tremendous human resources and national resources.

Iraq is still a nation with an inspiring culture and the tradition and an educated and civilized people. And Iraq is still a land made strong by a faith which teaches us tolerance, love, respect and duty.

Above all, they risk underestimating the courage, determination of the Iraqi people to embrace democracy, peace and freedom, for the dreams of our families are the same as the dreams of the families here in America and around the world. There are those who want to divide our world. I appeal to you, who have done so much already to help us, to ensure they don’t succeed.

Do not allow them to say to Iraqis, to Arabs, to Muslims, that we have only two models of governments, brutal dictatorship and religious extremism. This is wrong.

Like Americans, we Iraqis want to enjoy the fruits of liberty. Half of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims already enjoy democratically elected governments.

As Prime Minister Blair said to you last year when he stood here, anywhere, any time ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom not tyranny, democracy not dictatorship, and the rule of law not the rule of the secret police.

Do not let them convince others that the values of freedom, of tolerance and democracy are for you in the West but not for us.

For the first time in our history, the Iraqi people can look forward to controlling our own destiny.

This would not have been possible without the help and sacrifices of this country and its coalition partners. I thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

And let me tell you that as we meet our greatest challenge by building a democratic future, we the people of the new Iraq will remember those who have stood by us.

As generous as you have been, we will stand with you, too. As stalwart as you have been, we will stand with you, too.

Neither tyranny nor terrorism has a place in our region or our world. And that is why we Iraqis will stand by you, America, in a war larger than either of our nations, the global battle to live in freedom.

God bless you and thank you.”

The WSJ has an amazing story today… Seems that Sumner Redstone, whose record of supporting the far left I’ve gone into here in some detail, is endorsing the President for re-election. Says the article

:Speaking to some of America’s and Asia’s top executives gathered for Forbes magazine’s annual Global CEO Conference, Mr. Redstone declared: “I look at the election from what’s good for Viacom. I vote for what’s good for Viacom. I vote, today, Viacom.

“I don’t want to denigrate Kerry,” he went on, “but from a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on. The Democrats are not bad people. . . . But from a Viacom standpoint, we believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.”

I smell a fish, here, people. I’m concerned about the rather narrow way this wording is parsed by Redstone., focusing just on the business.  It’s called damning with faint praise, for one thing. But more importantly, he’s apparently trying to spew smoke, here. He’s been trying for weeks now, despite his rather public record of support for Kerry… it’s all in the FEC records, after all…. which I posted here….to make like he’s not been supporting Kerry. 

The WSJ article itself points out:

“It was all the more surprising because the Boston-born Mr. Redstone was co-chairman of Edmund Muskie’s presidential campaign in 1972. He’s also a close friend of the other Massachusetts senator, Ted Kennedy. Monday’s New York Sun, quoting the Federal Election Commission, said that since 1998 Mr. Redstone had given $50,000 to the Democratic Party. He’s also donated the maximum $2,000 to the Kerry campaign, after supporting Al Gore in 2000.”

The reason for this attempt at misdirection, apparently, is to help in the attempt to remove Redstone himself from doubt on the SeeBS documents scandal.

This seems to me a ‘cut the losses’ move, on Redstone’s part… and I’m not buying. In my estimation, Redstone sees his company in serious danger as a result of this scandal and is seeking cover. He’s right, he’s in deep doo-doo. But I’m not buying the illousion he’s trying to project.

Another rat deserting the sinking ship appears to be David Brinkley, who at last admits it;

“John Kerry was not the war hero we thought he was.”

I suspect we’ll see more of this “cut and run” strategy in the next 7 weeks, even without any further revelations from the See BS investigation.

I tell ya, gang… It’s hard not to be giddy, today.

Update: Slantpoint seems to agree with my call on Redstone.

WNIS radio drops CBS amid listener protest over Bush story (HamptonRoads.com/Pilot Online)

Good for them.
One hopes WHAM here in Rochester will be as smart.

Boortz points out, today that

“According to Juan Zarate, the assistant treasury secretary in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Saddam wanted to buy weapons to use against the United States.  That was illegal as part of the 1991 agreement that ended the Gulf War, but the oil-for-food scam gave Saddam the cash he needed to get around the ban.

Fox News’ special investigation has found, for instance, a front company in the United Arab Emirates that operated under the program, selling all sorts of stuff to Iraq.  Turns out that company was secretly controlled by the government of Iraq itself, which tried to buy military hardware with it. A lot of money changed hands, and a lot of that money is still missing.  Where did it go?”

It’s starting to look like the UN itself is a terrorist group….

Speaking of Lockhart, The Kerry Spot on National Review Online has an interesting post today, of Lockhart’s reaction tot he Alawi speech yesterday… which I’m still lookoing for the text of, by the way…  Says Lockhart:

“”The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips,”

It’s interesting.  AlQuieda’s objective is to create divisions betwen the US an it’s allies.

Why are the Democrats on John Kerry’s team trying to do the same thing as AlQuieda?

The Kerry Spot on National Review Online asks the question today…

SO WHAT DID BURKETT AND LOCKHART TALK ABOUT?

And yes, that does seem the question. Thing is, all we have to go on is the conflicting reports of these two men, neither one of which we can trust. Consider this question from the public’s POV; we have Burkett, and Joe Lockhart, a Clinton misadministration alum.  It becomes a question tothe public of which is the bigger liar.

Certainly Lockhart, having worked for the most vile, lie-telling Mis-administration America has ever suffered with in it’s long history, has a professional edge to him in the field. Yet, Burkett has proven himself time and again to be no slouch, either. Both these men are highly motivated Democrats. Who were originally seeking to get John Kerry into the WHite House by shall we say, shady dealings.

The voting public doesn’t trust either one, nor should they.

I mean, I can’t imagine this would dispose swing voters to pull that lever for JohnJohn, do you?

The issue remains the involvement of SeeBS, and if that involvement rises to the level of criminality on the part of the DNC or SeeBS.

I suspect that the two person panel (Thornburgh/Bocardi), either way they rule, will only be a first step.

This is a lose/lose situation for the Democrats.

If the Duo that Sumner Redstone appointed, rule there was no issues with these documents and the handling of them within SeeBS, then the public will rightly see this as a whitewash, and as an attempt to sway the election back to the Democrats, and will vote against Democrats in anger. If, OTOH, they say there were serious issues with the way CBS and the DNC interacted on all of this, the Democrats also lose, by the same token.

Michelle has some notes on this, as well as a round-up of comments from some of her regulars. SlantPoint and Captain Ed weigh in, too.

Update: From a comment I posted at Ed’s, to add some clarity…>>>>>
Burkett’s aims have lowered slightly… from bringing down Mr. Bush, to saving his own ass from the fire that’s all set to consume him. Meanwhile, Lockhart has a professional interest in representing the interests of Mr. Kerryand his campaign. Clearly, Lockhart, in that sense would be aiming to let Burkett swing on his own, and that wold certainly be the easiest thing to do.

Meanwhile, what motivation, would Burkett have in dragging down the Kerry campaign… the only hope in hell Burkett has for getting to his goal of bringing down the Bush Presidency?

Whose mutterings are closer to the truth? It’s a near tossup, with the slight edge going to Burkett, in my view, on the basis of Lockhart’s professional position in the matter.