The History Channel's recent documentary on the Ku Klux Klan never once mentioned (that I heard) that the hate group was formed by Democrats in 1866 and supported by Democrats through the mid '60s until Republicans forced the Civil Rights Act through Congress and LBJ knew he had to sign it in to law. (Al Gore, Sr.; Robert Byrd; Fritz Hollings were among U.S. senators who filibustered the bill at that time.)

The documentary also makes libelous and obvious comparisons to the Klan and patriotism today and to Christianity and racism. What a crock! The Klan waved the Confederate flag and burned a cross because they hated Catholism, among other religions, including Jews.

Disney owns this channel and this was an obvious smear attempt against those who support our country and our right to freedom of religion, and was broadcast the weekend prior to the election. Where's the Fairness Doctrine that Democrats supported? Oh, yeah. They likely will revive it soon, and in Stalinist manner, censor "right wing" talk radio and other so-called dissenters who will be sent to the New Siberia in Alaska to work the mines and oil fields.

A few weeks ago I wrote an article titled 'The Underrepresented Conservative Base' 1, in which I speculated that "Maybe losing the House of Representatives for a couple of years is exactly what the Republican party needs to wake it up and give it a great big shove back toward its conservative roots." This statement evoked a considerable amount of anger from Republican party loyalists, who denounced my opinion as defeatist, and even questioned my ideological integrity. Their reaction only served to reinforce my belief that the GOP is in big trouble at the moment, and will remain so until its blind supporters and increasingly wimpy leaders pull their collective head out of the sand and move back to the right where true Republicans belong.

A popular media myth these days is that most voters want to see the two main parties move more toward the political center, and that the partisan bickering which has always existed between them will come to a screeching halt once the voice of America's "moderate majority" has finally been heard. Aside from the fact that one would have to be as naive as a 2-year old to believe such tripe, I think it's fair to point out that compromise, while being far less noisy and time-consuming than fighting, is also less productive in the long run, at least most of the time.

A few weeks ago I wrote an article titled 'The Underrepresented Conservative Base' 1, in which I speculated that "Maybe losing the House of Representatives for a couple of years is exactly what the Republican party needs to wake it up and give it a great big shove back toward its conservative roots." This statement evoked a considerable amount of anger from Republican party loyalists, who denounced my opinion as defeatist, and even questioned my ideological integrity. Their reaction only served to reinforce my belief that the GOP is in big trouble at the moment, and will remain so until its blind supporters and increasingly wimpy leaders pull their collective head out of the sand and move back to the right where true Republicans belong.

A popular media myth these days is that most voters want to see the two main parties move more toward the political center, and that the partisan bickering which has always existed between them will come to a screeching halt once the voice of America's "moderate majority" has finally been heard. Aside from the fact that one would have to be as naive as a 2-year old to believe such tripe, I think it's fair to point out that compromise, while being far less noisy and time-consuming than fighting, is also less productive in the long run, at least most of the time.

As the internet becomes more and more a news source for everyone, formerly dominant media outlets have seen news consumers shift online to look for news. Just like radio was harmed by TV but still continues to survive because it changed how it did things, the magazine business is at a similar crossroads.

With more magazines than ever out there to say nothing about the web, older general circulation magazines are having to adapt. Up until just recently, though, there hasn't been anything too drastic. That might be changing as the weekly Time seems willing to start changing things.

On the political side, the magazine has in the past reached out to left-wing bloggers to write for it. Now, it seems the management has realized that, amazingly enough, conservatives read political news online as well. To that end, it's essentially purchased the conservative blog Real Clear Politics.

By Jon Hemming © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called U.S. President George W. Bush's defeat in congressional elections a victory for Iran.

Bush has accused Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb, being a state sponsor of terrorism and stoking sectarian conflict in Iraq, all charges Tehran denies.

"This issue (the elections) is not a purely domestic issue for America, but it is the defeat of Bush's hawkish policies in the world," Khamenei said in remarks reported by Iran's student news agency ISNA on Friday.

"Since Washington's hostile and hawkish policies have always been against the Iranian nation, this defeat is actually an obvious victory for the Iranian nation."

The Palm Beach Post is attacking Ann Coulter for voter fraud for voting at the wrong polling place.

Says Editor and Publisher:

The Palm Beach Post today urged a Florida election official to move more strongly on the case of columnist Ann Coulter's alleged voting fraud. And the Post editorial criticized Coulter's behavior.

"Coulter, who specializes in tirades against Democrats and others whom she considers unpatriotic, voted in the wrong Palm Beach precinct during the town's February election," the editorial stated. "As a result, Supervisor of Elections Arthur Anderson had a chance to show the public that even celebrities aren't above the law. Instead, he has made a halfhearted attempt to turn the matter over to the state attorney's office.

I have always marveled at the most elitist faction of American society, its Main Stream Media (MSM) and their ability to, on the one hand, be Useful Idiots for our Islamofascist enemies and on the other subtly remind us in the Heartland how vital they are and how utterly ignorant and dependant on them we are.  It’s a paradox of breath taking proportions.

 

Sad truth is, the survival of any free society does, in fact, rest with an open and diligent media.  Tyrants throughout history have sought to squelch the press and reign control on a society by controlling what the press says; in essence, molding the media in the regime’s image.  That’s why free people the world over can chuckle at the idiotic statements of Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez referring to an American President as “The Devil”.  One thing that George Bush’s critics must concede, even if begrudgingly, is that he has made no attempt to use force of law to silence his critics, many of which reside in the MSM.  Chavez continues to put a stranglehold on dissent in Venezuela (including attempts at controlling the press) that George W. Bush does not.  Mr. Bush, to his credit, understands the importance of a free press to the survival of liberty in a nation.

Well, this certainly didn’t take long, did it? The Time magazine website just published an article about a lawsuit being filed in Germany seeking criminal prosecution for Donald Rumsfeld over abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay (hat tips to Joe Myers and Jay at Stop The ACLU):

Just days after his resignation, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The article continued:

OSS CEO Shares Information About 9/11 Truth Seminar at George Mason University (Arlington Campus) 10-5 Saturday 11 November 2006 WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert David Steele (Vivas), CEO of
OSS.Net, Inc., is sharing information about a 9/11 Truth Seminar taking
place at the Arlington Campus of George Mason University from 10-5 on
Saturday 11 November 2006.
"This Nation can neither win wars, nor govern itself ably, if our

The following story is printed in today's New York Times so you would hope that word of it will get out to rest of the liberal media: Bush did not get rid of Rumsfeld because of the Republicans' electoral losses. It was only a question of when, not if:

President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday. Weeks before Election Day, the essential question still open was when, not whether, to make the move.

Mr. Bush ultimately postponed action until after the election in part because of concern that to remove Mr. Rumsfeld earlier could be interpreted by critics as political opportunism or as ratifying their criticism of the White House war plan in the heart of the campaign, the White House insiders and outsiders said.

Starter topic #1: The far-left push to impeach President Bush is beginning. Will the media jump on the bandwagon?

Starter topic #2: I think Glenn Reynolds is right on the money here. Do you?

In a rare edition of our “Friday Night Fights” feature, the well-known duo from the Fox News hit “Hannity & Colmes” teamed together on Thursday to take on Rev. Al Sharpton (hat tip to our friend at Ms Underestimated). To set this melee up, a radio ad was played in Atlanta, Georgia, just before Election Day suggesting that a Republican-run America is like the United States before the civil rights movement (as reported by NewsBusters here):

You think fighting off dogs and water hoses in the Sixties was bad, imagine if we sit idly by and let the right-wing Republicans take control of the Fulton County Commission.

Rev. Al Sharpton was invited on H&C to discuss this outrage, and was met with punches from both sides when he didn’t condemn the message. Colmes began (video and full transcript follow): “I'll tell you, Reverend, I'm glad Democrats won, but I don't like ads that compare Republicans to Bill Connor. And you don't really believe that if Republicans got re-elected there that Bull Connor would -- his spirit would live on.”

Sharpton predictably didn't agree, and countered:

Lately, it seems that comedian Bill Maher is in a competition with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann as to who can say the most virulent, disgraceful and absurd thing about Republicans. In a posting at HuffnPuff Thursday, Maher compared members of the GOP to radical Muslims, stated that religion and the “Islamic Menace” are myths, and suggested that the Administration are fascists. Not bad for one six-paragraph article, wouldn’t you agree?

Here are some of the low points (emphasis mine throughout):

In a fitting Veterans Day tribute, this morning’s USA Today recognizes America’s “21st Century Heroes,” a relatively small group of U.S. military servicemen who received our country's highest honors for their valor in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Good for USA Today. There hasn’t been much coverage of America's military heroes — indeed, back in June the Media Research Center noted that a three-week time period saw three times more network TV coverage of allegations of military misconduct than coverage of America’s top military heroes over a five year period.

This morning’s USA Today story, by Gregg Zoroya and Oren Dorell, helps restore some much-needed balance. “As the nation observes Veterans Day, America is witnessing a new generation of combat heroes from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq," they write. The front-page of the paper carries a November 2004 photo of Marine Sgt. Maj. Bradley Kasal being carried out of a firefight in Fallujah, where his heroism earned him the Navy Cross. An excerpt:

Was it an innocent scratching of the nose, or a classic Goose moment right out of the movie “Top Gun?” I report, you decide.

In a question and answer session at Kansas State University on Thursday, outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was posed the following: “If you were going to give yourself a letter grade for your performance as Secretary of Defense, what grade would that be?”

As he answered, "Oh, I'd let history worry about that," Rumsfeld used his middle finger to scratch his nose. Coincidence, Freudian slip, or something much, much more? And, did CNN intentionally show this clip on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” to discredit the former Secretary? Regardless, I hate it when it does that.

For your analysis and viewing pleasure, the incident in question is at the tail-end of the following video.

It occured to me that the GOP controlled congress has a short time span to implement some important legislation.  Near the top of the list - Comprehensive Border Security.

Here is a list of things that should (IMHO) get funded ASAP:

• Electiric Fence
• Moat
• Machine gun nests
• Air Force bombing range
• Mine fields (HT - MightyMouth)
• Sniper range (HT - bassndude)
• Neutron Bomb test range
• East German Shepherd (HT - Steven Wright) guard dogs
• Punji stick pits (HT - MikeB)
• Razor wire (HT - MikeB)

The 13th FL Congressional Election... ::: From the Newsbull Weblog of: Matt Bruce
::: Read & Respond @: http://www.newsbull.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=38514 Matt Bruce
Managing Editor & Publisher, News Sarasota   Newsbull Columnists Network 

SARASOTA, FL (NS) -

I never payed very much attention to people after the GOP Primary in the 13th Congressional District who started telling me they weren't going to vote for either the GOP winner Vern Buchanan and most certainly would not for for the Democratic Candidate Christine Jennings...

U.S. Death Toll in Iraq at 23 for Nov
AP/Nov 10

Two U.S. soldiers and a Marine were killed in
Iraq, the U.S. military said Friday, bringing the number of Americans
who have died in the country so far this month to 23.

Iraqi security forces said they arrested the head of an al-Qaida cell in a western Iraqi city.

The two American soldiers, assigned to the 89th
Military Police Brigade, died when the vehicle they were traveling in
was hit by a roadside bomb Thursday in western Baghdad, the U.S.
command said. Another soldier was wounded, it added.

The Marine, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, died Thursday from
wounds suffered in fighting in Anbar province. At least 11 of the 23
American deaths in November were in Anbar province. Most of the others
died in the Baghdad area...

Like a train arriving on time, the Washington Post reliably earned its liberal stripes Friday with two Style section smooch-pieces on the wonders of new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The first is a thoroughly typical rave by the quite partisan fashion critic Robin Givhan, who pronounces Pelosi "chic" in a piece headlined "Muted Tones of Quiet Authority." She is "consciously, comfortably, and authoritatively female." She ain't a --gasp! -- wrestlin' coach: "(The appearance of the current speaker, Rep. Dennis Hastert, will go unmentioned here except to say that there is nothing chic or particularly polished about it.)"

The second piece was headlined "Pride of Baltimore," an attempt to warm local hearts that before she was San Fran Nan, Pelosi was the daughter of "Tommy the Elder" D'Alessandro, Baltimore machine politician. (Reporter Lynne Duke insists that "Tommy" was ahem, not corrupt or tied to the Mob.) No, it was here in nearby Baltimore that Pelosi learned to be a socialist, oops, "progressive," of course:

Click here for instructions on running Gaggle daily on your own site. There's also an archive of previous toons available here.

I’m writing this from the passenger deck of a C-5 somewhere out over the Atlantic, heading toward Rota, Spain. There were a couple of major plot twists before we were able to board. We had initially been told there simply might not be any available seats. As it turned out, that wasn’t quite it. Our plane was to be carrying an exceptionally heavy load of military goodies to be delivered to Iraq and was right at its payload limit. Once it was determined that we could be squeezed aboard, weight-wise [thank you, Jenny Craig ;-)], we learned that Corey, Dave and I were to be – the only passengers!

Video from C-5 flight deck here.