pres impresses prague, prances before princes that pricked the depraved...

For much of my life, the word "dissident" meant

• Someone who hates those things for which Americas stands
or
• Someone who loves what America says it's about but is sadly driven to killing innocent people because America is full of hypocrites
or
• Socialism will be really cool when it takes over the U.S. - all we have to do is show everyone how awful the U.S. really is!!

S H O W N

In this room are dissidents and democratic activists from 17 countries on five continents. You follow different traditions, you practice different faiths, and you face different challenges. But you are united by an unwavering conviction: that freedom is the non-negotiable right of every man, woman, and child, and that the path to lasting peace in our world is liberty. (Applause.)

This conference was conceived by three of the great advocates for freedom in our time: Jose Maria Aznar, Vaclav Havel, and Natan Sharansky. I thank them for the invitation to address this inspiring assembly, and for showing the world that an individual with moral clarity and courage can change the course of history.

I know the president believes this. I believe he will be recognized as one of them someday.

espresso beans to powerline

What Does "Support The Troops" Mean?

If I said "I support the Indianapolis Police Dept.," and meant it the way we hear it said by congressional democrats, what would it mean?
From the "Outside The Wire" blog: Let Them Win

Friday, 16 February 2007
At the gym, running on the treadmill, watching cable news.
It is obvious supporting the troops means whatever you want it to mean.
As John Podhoretz wrote for NRO--
Nobody who actually supports the troops says "I support the troops" any longer. The words "I support the troops" are now solely for those who oppose what the troops are doing.
Of course, when two opposing sides of a debate use the same language, the coopting side usually wins.
Therefore, it is incumbent for one side--the victory caucus--to develop a different message.
I propose something simple, that can fit on a bumper sticker, and is unequivocal in meaning:

Support the Troops:
LET THEM WIN

Well, it didn't take long for it to become a reality.

in the locker room - after the win

Some Micheal Yon - Yes, Iraqis Have Heroes"The Hands of God"

The bomb strapped to his body was studded with ball-bearings so that he could kill more villagers as they gathered for prayer. The detonation would eviscerate and dismember those closest, shattering bones into fragments, but the ball-bearings would ensure lethality beyond the percussive edge of the blast wave, ripping through the flesh of people who might not have been knocked down by the explosion.
There were no soldiers in his path to stop him; no police to alert to the man in women’s clothes. There were only villagers. The man dressed as a woman was to be the agent of their deaths. He kept walking down the alley toward the mosque where more than one hundred people were praying, a mass murderer masquerading in a woman’s garb.

I can't help but wonder how many other great lives there are in Iraq, and how the vaunted American media is missing them all.

The closer a counterfeit comes to the genuine article, the more obvious the deceit. As the murderer dressed in women’s clothes walked purposefully toward his target, there was a village man ahead. But under the guise of a simple villager was a true Martyr, and he, too, had his target in sight. The Martyr had seen through the disguise, but he had no gun. No bomb. No rocket. No stone. No time.
The Martyr walked up to the murderer and lunged into a bear hug, on the spot where we were now standing.

espresso beans to jules crittenden

Franchisers Stepping Up and Rewarding Vets!!

You can always find bad news. Controversy sells. When sex stops being controversial, it will stop selling ads. But every once in a while, you read something that just fills your heart...this really is a great country, and there is never going to be a greater economic system than capitalism...Wounded Iraq war veteran finds new life serving up pizzas .

Robbie Doughty had lost his legs in a roadside bombing in Iraq and was searching for a new life outside the Army when a call came from a pizza magnate.
Michael Ilitch, founder and owner of the Little Caesars pizza chain, offered a business proposition.

click it ... read it ... love it!

espresso beans to a soldiers perspective

Jason L. Dunham - 10 November 1981 - 22 April 2004

His Memorial Page
An interview with his mom. The Marines add their tribute to a comrade and hero.

"His was a selfless act of courage to save his fellow Marines," said Sgt. Maj. Daniel A. Huff, sergeant major for 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment. "This generation of Marines is as good as any generation we've ever had in the Corps."

...

Tears run from the eyes of U.S. President George W. Bush during a ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor winner Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in the East room of the White House in Washington, January 11, 2007. Cpl. Dunham was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol while serving in Iraq. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (UNITED STATES)

And this is just unbelievable ...

Lance Cpl. Dean told those assembled about a trip to Las Vegas the two men and Becky Jo Dean had taken in January, not long before the battalion left for the Persian Gulf. Chatting in a hotel room, the corporal told his friends he was planning to extend his enlistment and stay in Iraq for the battalion's entire tour. "You're crazy for extending," Lance Cpl. Dean recalls saying. "Why?"
He says Cpl. Dunham responded: "I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive. I want to be sure you go home to your wife alive."
Mission accomplished, Corporal Dunham. Semper Fidelis.