Congressman Terry Everett (R-Dothan) To Retire

I know this is last weeks' news but I am just now getting around to it. Congressman Everett (seen here signing the Contract with America in 1994) has represented Alabama's 2nd district for the past 15 years and though in good health, he has decided to retire from the House at age 71. The 2nd district is in Southeast Alabama and contains the cities of Montgomery, Eufaula, Troy, Dothan, and Andalusia.The Congressman is a member of the Agriculture,Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He is also the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

There has been some talk of a primary battle between George Wallace and State Senator Harri Ann Smith for his seat. Everett took office in 1992 after coming out of left field to defeat then State Treasurer George Wallace Jr. Regardless, it seems Republicans are retiring in droves or being forced to retire such as Ted Stevens. 2008 is already looking like a repeat of 2006, with the Democrats having to defend fewer seats than the GOP and a large number of Republicans retiring.

Senator Jeff Sessions has launched his 2008 campaign website.

Senator Sessions stood out during the immigration/amnesty debate earlier this year and his POSITION ON IMMIGRATION occupies a lot of space on his website. Here's what has been going on with immigration lately.

Earlier today Harry Reid pulled the DREAM act amendment from the DoD bill. The DREAM act is the brainchild of Dick Durbin and Harry Reid and would provide a path to citizenship and benefits to illegal aliens. If passed illegal aliens would immediately qualify for in-state tuition, Stafford and Perkins loans, and other federal aid. Its' passage would immediately grant amnesty to over 1 million illegals and wave all limits on green cards and visas.

It's sad to watch the Republicans join the Democrats in this "race to the bottom" to win the Hispanic vote. The Republicans attempted to win the Hispanic vote by selling our their base with comprehensive immigration reform earlier this year and Democrats are now trying to tie amnesty and benefits to the DoD bill. It is a dangerous slope to blanket amnesty and with a Democrat in the WH and a Democratic legislature there won't be much left to stop them.

Take This Candidate Quiz to Find out which 08'er you best match up with.

I surprisingly matched up best with Tom Tancredo the first time. I think my strong views on immigration and a border fence paired him to me. i took it a second time and got matched up with Romney, Hunter, Tancredo, Huckabee, and Fred ( not necessarily in that order).

Fred Thompson- Facts of the Day.

Sort of like the Chuck Morris quotes or Bill Bratsky from SNL. Here's today's:" Fred Thompson is so pro-American that when he places an ad in the New York Times, they charge him four times their normal rate."

And my favorite:"Fred Thompson's home alarm system automatically calls the police, but it seems kinda useless since they'd never arrive in time to save the burglar."

Friday Funny
Chelsea Clinton meets a group of vets who have just returned from Iraq. She asks them what they were most afraid of while they were serving. One veteran looks her in the eye and says," 3 things: Osama, Obama, and your Momma.

John Grisham, author of "A Time to Kill ","The Firm" to host an event for HRC.

While reading this article it struck me that Grisham isn't so much for HRC but against the Bush White House. "The war is an immoral abomination that we'll pay for for decades to come," Grisham said near the end of a 40-minute telephone interview with The Des Moines Register
He says:""I've always thought that they were bad people with evil intent - and all that, it's playing out now," he said. "You can't hardly look at any aspect of the government in the seven years so far that's been run properly."

Grisham correctly chides the GOP for its lack of fiscal restraint;
"I always thought you could at least depend on the Republican Party to maintain some semblance of fiscal responsibility."But they run up record deficits - taking care of billionaires(like me) that they want to take care of."
I wonder if his statements will affect the sales of his new book. I think sales will be down in the South a la' Dixie Chicks style. Their album sales sunk like a stone after commenting,overseas that they were "embarrassed" to be from the same state as President Bush.

Fred Thompson scores points with Republicans in Alabama.
Presidential campaign newcomer Fred Thompson is moving faster than any other candidate to attract well-known Alabama Republicans who want to be his delegates to the Republican National Convention.

The Huntsville Times reports on Fred's support from in his hometown.

Fred answers reader questions on Hillary Care, Medicaid, fixing the tax code,and a pastry in this section from his website.

Things I find despicable.

1. Terrorist leader visiting the WTC and speaking at Columbia University. That's one crazy Arab that should not even be allowed in the country, much less walk the hallowed ground where 19 other crazy Arabs killed 3k Americans. Know I understand why Columbia has such a renowned journalism program. At least they can practice kissing the ring of international terrorist leaders before they become members of the MSM.
2. South Korean immigrants forced to sell dry cleaners after being hit with bogus 54million dollar lawsuit. Way to set a good example Judge Pearson(whackjob), if you need money just sue,its the American Way.
3. James Dobson running out of candidates to NOT ENDORSE. -“Isn’t Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won’t talk at all about what he believes, and can’t speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?” Dobson wrote.

Dobson said he wouldn't back John McCain because of the Arizona senator's opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Dobson wrote on a conservative news Web site that he wouldn't support former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should he win the Republican nomination.

Alabama's New Tourism Campaign....

picked out by 5th graders. Not really but it is about time they made it official. I thought it was interesting that a larger percentage of out of state residents (71%) preferred "Sweet Home Alabama" compared to 65% of Alabama residents.

Here is the slogan on the State Tourism home page. [Upper left-hand corner]

Sunday Quickie Econ Lesson.
Economics applied to price controls, minimum wages,drug prohibition,rent control, and The Great Depression all in one article,"Order and Disorder."

Here's Rudy's response to the MoveOn ad that ran recently in the NY Times. I can't be argued that Hizzonor has some fight left in him. I was wondering what the background is of Ambassador Ryan Crocker but the guys at RedState beat me to it. Here's his very impressive professional background:
• Grew up in Morocco, Canada and Turkey
• Was in Beirut in 1983 when Hezbollah blew up the U.S. Embassy, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans. Crocker was slightly injured but helped search for other survivors in the rubble. It was the first suicide bombing of an American target by Islamic extremists.
• Crocker’s knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs comes from his stints as: ambassador to Lebanon; ambassador to Kuwait; ambassador to Syria (demonstrators ransacked his residence in 1998 to protest the U.S. bombing of Iraq); reopening the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan in 2002; ambassador to Pakistan; ambassador to Iraq; and other assignments in Iraq, Iran, Qatar and Egypt.
• Awards: Presidential Distinguished Service Award (1994), DoD Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service (1997), Presidential Meritorious Service Award (1999 and 2003), State Department Distinguished Honor Award, State Department Award for Valor, three State Department Superior Honor Awards, American Foreign Service Association Rivkin Award, and the Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for “Exceptional Courage and Leadership”

Red Meat for the FredHeads.

With all the talk about Fred running an anemic campaign including this hit piece from George Will, he still manages to draw cheers in this video from the road.

Here is a positive article on FREDeralism.

Amish give contribution to widow of murderer of schoolchildren.
This story should lead the news tonight but I would be surprised and delighted if any of the MSM mention it.
Charles Carl Roberts, tied up and shot 10 Amish schoolgirls aged 6 to 14 in their classroom last Oct. 2, killing five of them before turning the gun on himself.
In a statement released on behalf of the community, the committee said.. "forgiveness is a journey, that you need help from your community of faith and from God ... to make and hold on to a decision not to become a hostage to hostility.
"It is understood that hostility destroys community,"
Folks to me that is the very definition of what Jesus meant when he said, "turn the other cheek." I couldn't have been that forgiving considering the way Roberts executed those schoolchildren. One of the girls he shot, Rosanna King, is confined to a reclining wheelchair,unable to talk or feed herself. Her parents are what the Amish call,"double-blessed." I had the opportunity to spend some time with several Amish families during a trip to Pennsylvania when I was a young teenager and I can't put in words the kindness they expressed to us. We exchanged Christmas cards for several years after with one family. Witness starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis is a good look at the Amish and includes realistic scenes of a barn raising, their way of life and the harassment the Amish sometimes face.

And we thought Alabama's two year system had problems.
Ousted TSU President Priscilla Slade racked up a $100,000 bar tab at Scott Gertner's Skybar and Grille during her tenure and stuck Texas Southern University with the bill, prosecutors said Wednesday. Slade is accused of spending more than $500,000 of the school's money on the following:

• personal expenses such as home renovations, drapes and bedding.
• two meals a day for herself and her staff at expensive restaurants, nights of drinking out and tickets for professional sports games.
• travel to Rome, Costa Rica and Maine.
• bottles of Far Niente $100 each, with her friends and staff at expensive bars

Her attorney said Slade's purchases were reasonable and necessary to court donors and improve the university's image.Everybody is quick to point out extravagant CEO spending,let's see if Higher Ed does the same.

Just A Thought.

Why would the Patriots need to steal signals, they have won 3 Superbowls recently or maybe that is why they have been so successful.

UPDATE:Commissioner Roger Goodell fined Bill Belichick $500,000 -- the biggest fine ever for an NFL coach -- and the team $250,000 after determining New England violated league rules by videotaping defensive signals from Jets coaches in the teams' regular-season opener. The Patriots also will have to forfeit either a first-round draft choice or second- and third-round picks.

Questions about Global Warming.
First of all, I won't pretend I am a scientist like other ex-VPs I know. These are just common sense inquires.

1. How can we be sure that man is the cause of the Earth heating up 1 degree over the last 100years? With the millions of activities happening on this rock we call Earth, are you telling me that you can isolate one variable (man-made activities) and determine that it is the cause of GW. There are hundreds of scientists(see here) refuting current global warming theories, so I would say that there isn't a consensus in the scientific community that GW is man-made. The above article is from the Hudson Institute,no bastion of right wing thought.
2. Assuming GW is man-made, Do we need to try to prevent it? If it is not should we be messing with the Earth's natural cycle of heating and cooling? Why should we drastically change our whole way of life to keep the temperature down 1 degree? We can't have peace in the Middle East, what makes you think we can prevent the Earth and all its flora,fauna and organisms from warming? Should we just begin to make ice 24 hours a day and leave our doors open to cool down the neighborhood?
3. What is the incentive for each individual person to change his behavior? An individual has to have an incentive to change his behavior. If the Earth will warm or cool with or without that one person,why should that person lift a finger either way. No matter how many scary pictures and movies are shown there has to be an incentive for that one person to change his behavior. For example,there is no rational reason for me to vote. No election has ever been that close,so theoretically my vote either for or against is for naught.

The Sharon Statement

I doubt many people have seen this but I have been wanting to put it ourt there for a while. It was adopted by a group of young conservatives (including WFB) in Sharon, Connecticut,1960. Here's a section:

................We, as young conservatives, believe:

That foremost among the transcendent values is the individual's use of his
God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions
of arbitrary force;
That liberty is indivisible, and that political freedom
cannot long exist without economic freedom; ............................
That the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for
empowering government to fulfill its proper role, while restraining it from the
concentration and abuse of power; ...............
That we will be free only so long as the national sovereignty of the United States is secure; that history shows periods of freedom are rare, and can exist only when free citizens concertedly defend their rights against all enemies;
That the forces of international Communism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties;
That the United States should stress victory over, rather than
coexistence with, this menace; and That American foreign policy must be
judged by this criterion: does it serve the just interests of the United States?

I would change "the forces of international Communism" to"creeping radical Islamofacism" but everything else rings true and has stood the test of time for conservatives.

Things to Do if You Are Fred Thompson

1. Announce you are running for President? Check


2. Air 1st campaign ad, "The Hunt for Red November." Check


3. Pull statistically even or ahead of Rudy. Check

In polling completed since his announcement, Thompson leads Giuliani by 12-points among conservative primary voters. That’s up from a five-point edge before the announcement

4. Go on the attack verses Democrat front runner and GOP flip-flopper. Check

Remember the horrendous act perpetrated against us. Celebrate Coach Bryant's Birthday.Turn in after a good days' work.(I am guessing about the last one, that's more along the lines of what I did).