Ex-Lawmaker Charged in Terror Conspiracy

It's good that they caught him, and it's perfectly appropriate to mention the political party of the traitor.  The fact that he managed to infiltrate the Republican party is bad, but there's no use trying to hide it now.  Let's find the rest of them...

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8U76PK82&show_article=1

A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying—money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Kathryn Jean Lopez on Rick Santorum & John McCain on National Review Online

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDllYTY5NzA2OTk2YzNhZTIyZGUwYzU5OTc4MzVhZDY=

But Santorum's criticisms cut to the heart of conservative concerns about McCain: that he's not a conservative, that he's been damaging to conservative causes while in the Senate, and that he would be no friend to conservatives — never mind being one himself — in the White House. 

In an interview with Mark Levin on Levin's radio show Thursday night, Santorum went so far as to call McCain "very, very dangerous for Republicans" on domestic policy. Santorum said: "I just have to tell you, as a leader, as someone who had to put these coalitions together, it was always hard and we very rarely on domestic policy had any help from the Senator from Arizona."

No woman is illegal

[via Drudge...]

http://www.lvrj.com/news/13702902.html

A man shouted through an opening in the wall that his wife was illegal.

"No woman is illegal," Clinton said, to cheers.

Summing it up at the end, Clinton said, "We've only talked to a few people, but each of them talk about some part of the problem we are confronting. This is a problem that is only going to get worse if we don't address it."

Clinton said unscrupulous lending leads to bad mortgages, which lead to foreclosures, which lead to people with nowhere to go and vacant neighborhoods that can go rapidly downhill.

"We treat these problems as if one is guacamole and one is chips, when ... they both go together," she said.

Interesting analogy.  The article doesn't mention if Hillary used a Mexican accent.

Blogburst for Fred

http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2008/01/10/blogburst-for-fred-man-the-oars-and-start-pulling/

Fred Thompson's campaign is once again at a critical juncture and again I am showing my support for the candidate of my choice by organizing a Blogburst in hopes that we can raise the funds necessary for Fred's campaign to be competitive.

If you want to make a donation, visit www.Fred08.com

Fred Will Be Fred

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmUwZjQ1Y2NhZmIzZjVmYWJmMWNhMjQ0NzVkYzJmZmU=

The Thompson campaign held a conference call for sympathetic bloggers this afternoon.  On the call, Senator Thompson stressed that he would stick to his campaign style, but added he would increase his efforts to make comparisons and draw distinctions with his opponents.  A few highlights from call:

On his campaign style: "If it's too laid back for folks, it's too laid back for folks," and "we used to judge our Presidents and what we wanted in our Presidents on a different basis." "I stand or fall on the basis of who I am and what I believe."

On the press: "They will only be impressed by success on election night."

On the stakes: "This is a fight for the soul of the Republican Party." At stake is whether the GOP represents the GOP coalition or "moves left." 

Democrats on Making Change

These are a few days old, but worth quoting...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4091841

[Hillary] Clinton shot back, emphasizing, "Making change is not about what you believe or about making a speech, it's about working hard." Raising her voice, she said, "I want to make change, but I've already made change. I'm not running on a promise of change. But on 35 years of change … we don't need to raise false hopes of people in our country about what can be delivered."

Edwards told supporters, "The status quo is yesterday. And change is tomorrow. And tomorrow begins today..."

I used to work at an amusement park arcade when I was a teenager.  I'm confident that I've made more change than all the Democratic contenders combined.

Voter cited by opponents of Indiana's ID law registered in two states

http://www.kpcnews.com/articles/2008/01/09/news/today/evening_star/doc478441f2313a5420740819.txt

On the eve of a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Indiana Voter ID law has become a story with a twist: One of the individuals used by opponents to the law as an example of how the law hurts older Hoosiers is registered to vote in two states.

    Faye Buis-Ewing, 72, who has been telling the media she is a 50-year resident of Indiana, at one point in the past few years also
claimed two states as her primary residence and received a homestead exemption on her property taxes in both states.

    Monday night from her Florida home, Ewing said she and her husband Kenneth "winter in Florida and summer in Indiana." She admitted to registering to vote in both states, but stressed that she¹s never voted in Florida. She also has a Florida driver's license, but when she tried to use it as her photo ID in the Indiana elections in November 2006, poll workers wouldn't accept it.

    Subsequently, Ewing became a sort-of poster child for the opposition when the Indiana League of Women Voters (ILWV) told media that the problems Ewing had voting that day shows why the high court should strike it down.

    But Indiana Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita said Monday that Ewing's tale illustrates exactly why Indiana needs the law. "This shows that the Indiana ID law worked here, which also calls into question why the critics are so vehemently against this law, especially with persons like this, who may not have a legal right to vote in this election," Rokita said.

Voter-Fraud Showdown

http://opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110011102

Right now, half the states have decided that some kind of ID should be required to vote. It makes sense for the Supreme Court to allow federalism to work its will state-by-state. In 2006, the court unanimously overturned a Ninth Circuit ruling that had blocked an Arizona voter ID law. In doing so, the court noted that anyone without an ID is by federal law always allowed to cast a provisional ballot that can be verified later. The court also noted that fraud "drives honest citizens out of the democratic process and breeds distrust of our government. Voters who fear their legitimate votes will be outweighed by fraudulent ones will feel disenfranchised."

So the high court itself has already defined the nub of the case it is hearing today. On one side are those who claim photo IDs will block some voters from casting ballots, but offer scant evidence. On the other side are those who believe photo ID laws can act as a deterrent to irregularities the public increasingly views as undermining election integrity. Given the obvious political nature of the argument, here's hoping a clear Supreme Court majority reprises its 2006 finding and holds that such questions are best resolved by the elected branches of government and not by unaccountable courts.

Rich Lowry on Liberal Fascism on National Review Online

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjBiYzdhODQwNmE0MTc5Y2M0NmM2ZGY4MWRhMTkxYjA=

In his brilliant new book Liberal Fascism, Jonah Goldberg (a colleague of mine) demonstrates how the opposite is the case, that fascism was a movement of the left and that liberal heroes like Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were products of what Goldberg calls "the fascist moment" in America early in the 20th century. How we think of the ideological spectrum — socialism to the left, fascism to the right — should be forever changed.

[...]

Goldberg sees the fascist exaltation of youth, glorification of violence, hatred of tradition and romance of "the street" in the New Left of the 1960s, still the subject of the fond memories for the liberal establishment in this country. Goldberg argues that "liberal fascism" — the phrase was coined by H. G. Wells, and he meant it positively — is a distant heir to European fascism. The liberal version is pacifist rather than militaristic and feminine rather than masculine in its orientation, but it also seeks to increase the power of the state and overcome tradition in sweeping crusades pursued with the moral fervor of war.

Best line on the Democratic race

http://firstfriday.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/what-the-headline-should-be-tomorrow-but-wont-be/

the Democratic primary is turning into a battle between the people that pay for Social Security and those that collect it. 

Super Delegates for Hillary

How Democratic "Super Delegates" favor Hillary over Obama...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2008/01/clintons_plan_b.html

This year, according to the indispensable Green Papers, there will be 798 super delegates at the convention in Denver. They include all elected members of the Democratic National Committee, all current Democratic members of Congress (including non-voting delegates), all sitting Democratic governors, and past party luminaries (e.g. former presidents). Unlike pledged delegates, who are bound to particular candidates, super delegates are free to vote their consciences.

Hillary wins NH

Apparently, a few tears helped put Hillary over the top with the older
women in NH. Obama got the independents to break his way, but Hillary
won with registered Democrats. On Bill Bennett's radio show this
morning, Karl Rove mentioned that Obama leads with the young voters
and wine drinkers, while Hillary gets the older voters and beer
drinkers. That gives Hillary a significant edge in the long run. If
she can hold on to the union endorsements, she's still in good shape.

There's also a theory that independents may have chosen to vote for
McCain on the Republican side, which effectively took votes away from
Obama. I haven't seen the numbers to confirm that, but it sounds
plausible.

Huckabee vows to defy birthright citizenship - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

You have to get Huckabee some credit for being bold.  He's not my man, but I can support him on this issue...

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/NATION/311698216/1001

Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced.

Mr. Huckabee, who won last week's Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.

The former Arkansas governor thinks the case against U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean was railroaded, Mr. Gilchrist said. Ramos and Compean are serving lengthy prison sentences for shooting a fleeing drug-smuggling suspect in the buttocks.

"I would make it my first act as president to pardon agents Ramos and Compean," Mr. Gilchrist said Mr. Huckabee told him. "I regret that they have spent yet another Christmas locked up in a windowless cell like animals and unable to be free and with their families."

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

(video link)

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/202

Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, talks about our new wave of overprotected kids -- and spells out 5 (and really, he's got 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do. Allowing kids the freedom to explore, he says, will make them stronger and smarter and actually safer.

Drudge Flash: Talk of Hillary Exit

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashhn.htm

Facing a double-digit defeat in New Hampshire, a sudden collapse in national polls and an expected fund-raising drought, Senator Hillary Clinton is preparing for a tough decision: Does she get out of the race? And when?! 

Drudge is just grabbing headlines.  I'm pretty skeptical about his sources on this.  The mainstream media have not abandoned her.  She's still got plenty of money to compete through super Tuesday.  There's no way, she's talking about dropping out.  It sounds like desperation coming out of the Edwards camp.  I expect him to get trounced in New Hampshire. After that, his only excuse for continuing his campaign is that Hillary will drop out and her supporters will gravitate towards him.  "Not gonna happen."

Obama seemly likely to win again in New Hampshire.  That will force Hillary to go negative if she wants the nomination.  But I don't think James Carville and company can touch Obama. Their clumsy attempts to leak drug dealing allegations backfired.  They've hinted at how the Republican racists will attack Obama so you'd better stick with a tough fighter like Hillary, but that didn't get any traction.  Obama momentum is getting stronger.  He could win the presidency in a year that looks to go Democratic no matter who the nominee is.

A while back I predicted that the Clinton campaign will have to turn to Al Gore for help.  He could save her with an endorsement.  But he's unlikely to get involved -- unless they have serious dirt on him.

Open Letter on CO2

An open letter from scientists to the UN Secretary General...

http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=164002

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued increasingly alarming conclusions about the climatic influences of human-produced carbon dioxide (CO2), a non-polluting gas that is essential to plant photosynthesis. While we understand the evidence that has led them to view CO2 emissions as harmful, the IPCC's conclusions are quite inadequate as justification for implementing policies that will markedly diminish future prosperity. In particular, it is not established that it is possible to significantly alter global climate through cuts in human greenhouse gas emissions. On top of which, because attempts to cut emissions will slow development, the current UN approach of CO2 reduction is likely to increase human suffering from future climate change rather than to decrease it.

Br-r-r! Where did global warming go? - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/01/06/br_r_r_where_did_global_warming_go/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1

"Carbon dioxide is not to blame for global climate change," Sorokhtin writes in an essay for Novosti. "Solar activity is many times more powerful than the energy produced by the whole of humankind." In a recent paper for the Danish National Space Center, physicists Henrik Svensmark and Eigil Friis-Christensen concur: "The sun . . . appears to be the main forcing agent in global climate change," they write.

Given the number of worldwide cold events, it is no surprise that 2007 didn't turn out to be the warmest ever. In fact, 2007's global temperature was essentially the same as that in 2006 - and 2005, and 2004, and every year back to 2001. The record set in 1998 has not been surpassed. For nearly a decade now, there has been no global warming. Even though atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to accumulate - it's up about 4 percent since 1998 - the global mean temperature has remained flat. That raises some obvious questions about the theory that CO₂ is the cause of climate change.

Kwanzaa: Holiday From The FBI by Ann Coulter

http://townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=kwanzaa_holiday_from_the_fbi&ns=AnnCoulter&dt=01/02/2008&page=1

Kwanzaa itself is a lunatic blend of schmaltzy '60s rhetoric, black racism and Marxism. Indeed, the seven "principles" of Kwanzaa praise collectivism in every possible arena of life -- economics, work, personality, even litter removal. ("Kuumba: Everyone should strive to improve the community and make it more beautiful.") It takes a village to raise a police snitch.

When Karenga was asked to distinguish Kawaida, the philosophy underlying Kwanzaa, from "classical Marxism," he essentially explained that under Kawaida, we also hate whites. While taking the "best of early Chinese and Cuban socialism" -- which one assumes would exclude the forced abortions, imprisonment of homosexuals and forced labor -- Kawaida practitioners believe one's racial identity "determines life conditions, life chances and self-understanding." There's an inclusive philosophy for you.

Coincidentally, the seven principles of Kwanzaa are the very same seven principles of the Symbionese Liberation Army, another charming invention of the Worst Generation. In 1974, Patricia Hearst, kidnap victim-cum-SLA revolutionary, posed next to the banner of her alleged captors, a seven-headed cobra. Each snake head stood for one of the SLA's revolutionary principles: Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba and Imani -- the exact same seven "principles" of Kwanzaa.

[...]

Kwanzaa was the result of a '60s psychosis grafted onto the black community. Liberals have become so mesmerized by multicultural nonsense that they have forgotten the real history of Kwanzaa and Karenga's United Slaves -- the violence, the Marxism, the insanity. Most absurdly, for leftists anyway, is that they have forgotten the FBI's tacit encouragement of this murderous black nationalist cult founded by the father of Kwanzaa.

Captain's Quarters calls for Executive Order against earmarks

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/016511.php

Sources on the Hill tell some of us that a critical point has been reached at the White House on whether to issue an Executive Order that would prevent federal agencies from spending funds on 90% of the earmarks in the Omnibus Spending Bill. According to the whispers, the earmarkers on Capitol Hill have begun to lean heavily on the White House to let the matter drop and to keep the earmark funding in place. Every day brings a fresh round of calls from the same lawmakers who porked up the overdue spending bill, "airdropping" almost all of them (against the new rules in Congress) to keep the porkers from accountability.

If CapQ readers want George Bush to issue the Executive Order and hold Congress responsible for violating its own rules while pursuing personal political benefits, they need to let the White House know now how they feel. The EO advocates need to remind Bush that only through dramatic action can the GOP reclaim any momentum on fiscal responsibility. A rescission package would only play into the hands of the same people who larded up the spending bill while delivering it three months late.

You can make a difference. Call 202-456-1111 and politely explain why the President should issue the EO, or e-mail the staff at comments@whitehouse.gov.

Power Line: Ms. Hillary does Pakistan

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2007/12/019419.php

Sen. Clinton really didn't know that the upcoming elections were for individual seats in Pakistan's parliament. She actually believed that Bhutto, Nawaz and Musharraf would be facing off as individual candidates for leadership of the country in the upcoming elections.

Sen. Clinton didn't know that Nawaz Sharif isn't allowed to run for office in Pakistan because of a felony conviction. She didn't know that President Musharraf won't be on the ballot because he's already been elected.

Sen. Clinton, a candidate for the leadership of the free world, apparently doesn't know the first thing about the country referred to by some as "the most dangerous place on earth."

A transcript of Senator Clinton's interview with Blitzer is posted here; a video of Senator Clinton's interview with Stephanopoulos interview is posted here. If any of the major Republican presidential candidates had spoken in this manner about the scheduled elections in Pakistan, surely an issue would be made of it.