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If you care to hear South Dakota Public Radio's story on the permanent campaign you need to get a life. You can also go to this site and listen to it. I think the most important information to come out...

Meet the new press secretary for the SD Democratic party, Donald P. Carr....

And so it begins: NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Jewish settlers blocked Gaza's most hardline enclaves on Monday to stop soldiers delivering eviction notices launching a pullout that Israel says will end its 38-year occupation of the coastal strip....

National Democrats might want to use Herseth's playbook

This is interesting in light of Herseth's erratic and generally low level of legislative accomplishment. The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader's Dave Kranz continues to cheerlead the Donks hopes for a resurgance in the mid-term elections.

If national Democrats listen to Rep. Stephanie Herseth, they will adopt parts of the game plan that won her a seat in the House even though South Dakota is a bright-red George Bush state. Herseth took some conservative positions in her campaign, then voted that way on several occasions when she got to Washington. That has won her praise from conservatives, compliments from some would-be Republican opponents back home and scorn from some members of her own party who nonetheless will be hard-pressed to vote against her.

Uh, hello? Good morning Dave! Coffee smell good? In case you hadn't noticed, isn't this about what Hillary has been doing for a while?

With some of that bipartisan legislative conduct, Herseth says conditions could be favorable next year for Democrats to take back at least one of the chambers of Congress, now both controlled by Republicans. "First, we have to have a more concise message that mirrors the centrists in the party," Herseth said. That message might make some a little uncomfortable, she said.

Again: this is a case of changing the message to get some sucker votes - when in office the Donks will be Donks - and no holds will be barred.

Consider the impact on say, judicial appointments, to say nothing on national security issues. Does anyone with a lick of sense and a knowledge of history REALLY think that the Donks will do anything better than they have in the past?

Based on the performances of Dingy Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and others of their ilk on the left, would helping to give these people MAJORITY status in either house of Congress be beneficial? No matter WHAT Stephanie says or does, she and others like her, are just another brick in the Donks' wall of closet socialism, political correctness, and appeasement.

From the National Ledger: Did defense intelligence officials identify ringleader Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers as al Qaeda members more than a year before 09/11? That?s what Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the now disbanded 09/11 Commission, wants to know....

War games seen as 'message'

A joint Chinese and Russian military exercise set to begin tomorrow is meant as a political signal to the United States, in addition to helping Moscow showcase its weapons for sale to China, U.S. defense and intelligence officials said yesterday.

Join in with the ostrich wing of the Donks - close your eyes and repeat the mantra: "The cold war is over. The threat from Russia is gone."

On the other hand...more realistically, it behooves us to keep our powder dry.

The Chief received the following via e-mail. This correspondent of his, a former USN active-duty shipmate, added his pithy comments to an AP story.

For your consideration:

Aug. 13, 2005, 10:33PM Associated Press Bush backers join Crawford showdown Counter-rallies are prompted by anti-war group

CRAWFORD - A grieving mother's anti-war protest entered its second week, gaining momentum and spurring counter-rallies, as hundreds of people with conflicting opinions about the war in Iraq descended Saturday on a road leading to the Western White House.

More than 350 anti-war demonstrators gathered at a park near downtown, then moved the rally several miles away to the peace vigil's makeshift campsite along the road to President Bush's ranch.

"Who knew that the beginning of the end of the occupation in Iraq was going to start last Saturday in Crawford, Texas?" said Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif.,

She is delusional. Her fifteen minutes of fame has gone to her head.

who started the protest Aug. 6 in memory of her 24-year-old son, Casey, who was killed in Iraq last year.

I doubt her son would support what she's doing.

As about a dozen Bush supporters stood across the street holding signs, down from more than 250 who gathered there Saturday morning, one exchange became heated. A Bush supporter approached an anti-war veteran, and they stood chest to chest as deputies tried to separate them.

When the veteran shouted about his wartime experiences and yelled, "I earned the right to be here!" several of his fellow protesters subdued him, moving him away as he sobbed and his knees buckled.

Who knows if he's really a veteran. You can tell people anything and they will believe it. If I told people I met Mick Jagger some place they'd believe it. If I told them I was in Vietnam they'd believe it. If I told them I sat the bench on some OSU football team and that Woody Hayes chewed me out a few times, they'd believe it.

Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents otherwise kept the groups on opposite sides of the road, and no one was arrested. The morning pro-Bush rally was organized by Darrell Ankarlo, a conservative radio talk-show host for KLIF in Dallas, who said, "In my heart of hearts I believe that we're trying to do the right thing" in Iraq.

I think we are too.

He also asked to meet with Sheehan, but she agreed only to meet privately Saturday evening with Bush supporters whose relatives have died in Iraq.

She might be putting herself into some emotional buzz saw with this move.

The 250-plus Bush supporters stood in the blazing sun for a few hours in a ditch across the street from the campsite. Most waved American flags and held signs, including "Help! I'm surrounded by America hating idiots!"

He's probably right.

"I feel sorry for Cindy, but I think she went about this the wrong way," said Bill Garrett, of Dallas, a member of Protest Warrior, a group that frequently holds counterprotests to anti-war rallies. "Somebody's got to stand up to them."

This is true.

The first counter-rally was Friday night, organized by another conservative radio talk-show host, Mike Gallagher. He brought many of the 100 Bush supporters by bus to the anti-war group's campsite, and the pro-Bush side waved flags, sang patriotic songs and chanted, "Go, George, go!"

Mike wants publicity for his show.

But Tim Origer, who lost his left leg above the knee when he was a 19-year-old Marine fighting in Vietnam, said Saturday that believing the war with Iraq is wrong does not diminish the protesters' support for the soldiers.

Again.....a real vet or someone who lost his leg on his motorcycle? I've seen guys who say they were in Nam who, even in 1975 when it ended, weren't old enough to be there. I'd say that someone has to be at least 47 to have been in Nam at the end.

"When Iraqi Freedom started, it looked so much like Vietnam that I couldn't be quiet," said Origer, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., and is a member of Veterans for Peace. "It's real easy to say war is good when you don't have to be in it." The campsite of tents and anti-war banners has swelled to several hundred people some days but has a core group of about 100. They sing songs, chat and plan strategy each day on the shoulders of two intersecting side roads that form a triangle with Prairie Chapel Road, which leads to Bush's ranch.

Stevie Wonder can see that these people don't have jobs. What job lets you go and spend a week at a anti-war rally.

They vow to remain until Bush meets with Sheehan and the group's other grieving parents or until the end of his monthlong ranch visit.

Gimme a break. They won't do that. Bush will outlast them. They'll give up in about two weeks....except the six who decide stick it out.

Bush has said that he sympathizes with Sheehan but hasn't said whether he will talk to her. Two administration officials met with her last weekend.

If I were Bush I would not talk to her as it won't do him any good.
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Just the viewpoint and words of a non-activist friend. H/T/ to this former shipmate, and regular Texas guy. I've heard a LOT worse commentary on this, and other issues.

Since rejoining the civilized world, i.e. getting cable TV, I have been reminded why I hate ESPN so much. Don't get me wrong. I love sports, and come college football season ESPN will come in very handy. What I can't...

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