The new symbol of freedom


It gives new meaning to the phrase, "giving somebody the finger"

With all of the
Doom and Gloom and Doom and Gloom that preceded the election, I expect some to admit they were wrong!

What was I thinking, the ney-sayers will just move Move the Goalpost, again!

I am very happy that the election went off as well as coud be expected and the ney-sayersWERE WRONG!

Not to be a wet blanket, but I expect that the terror strikes will increase in the next few weeks. I surmise that the terrorists decided not to strike on an obvious day at obvious targets. I think they will use a relaxed security atmosphere to strike at the ballot counting places and I can see assassinations of elected officials in the next few months.

But for now, let us revel in today's triumph, for, victory is still long ways away.

"That these are our grievances which we have thus laid before his majesty, with that freedom of language and sentiment which becomes a free people claiming their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate." --Thomas Jefferson

Tinfoil hat?

The FAA is securing airspace for Congressmen around The Greenbrier. Considering The Greenbrier use to be a Bomb shelter for members of Congress, I must wonder, do they know something we don't?

PA, the land of liberty (I am, of course bias)

I love this story by a PA National Guard Member:

With the upcoming election here and the recent inauguration of our own president to a second term, I let my thoughts drift back to the horrible dark times of the 2000 election. I remember the chants of the protesters on both sides claiming that many had died for our right to vote, and they would not be denied. I remember one pundit calling the Florida troubles the biggest crisis democracy had ever seen. Oh really?

My memory is a bit fuzzy for about three or four days after that election, because I didn't sleep a wink and mainlined coffee until sometime the following Friday. I don't remember every detail, the moves and counter-moves. What I do remember is this: No shots were fired, no bombs went off and there were no soldiers from either side roaming the streets. If that is a crisis, then the situation in Iraq is hopeless.

Here's the good part: It's not hopeless. Every Iraqi I talk to has hope. I've written several times on the power of hope, and right here is a living, breathing 24-million-strong testament to it. As long as some hope endures for the Iraqi people, my time here will not have been wasted.

Read the rest! Sgt. Thomas Foreman Jr is making PA proud!

Inauguration Pictures

I finally got off my lazy butt and posted my pictures from the President's Inauguration. The first four pictures are from the Celebration of freedom the night before the Inauguration.

Good news!

"WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. government ran a $1 billion budget surplus in December, helped by a rise in corporate tax payments, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest budget report released on Friday."

When will people realize that Budget projections are about as accurate as psychic readings! But this is down right SCARY " It(the CBO) will update its forecast for 2005 and 2006-2015 on January 25."
How can they possibly project deficits or surpluses for nine years. Do they have a crystal ball to tell them all the unforeseen expenditures the federal government may have in the next nine years?

If only he wins!

Howard Dean Enters DNC Race

WASHINGTON (AP) Former presidential candidate Howard Dean, once the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination whose candidacy stumbled, has decided to seek the party’s chairmanship, several Democrats said Tuesday.

If we can't have Terry Mcauliffe, Dean will do just fine!

The Larger army debate!

Instapundit links to an article by Kevin Drum about how Congress would not have approved the Iraq war had the plan included an increase in the size of the US army.

"Of course, no one seriously suggests that we should strip every last soldier from Europe, North Korea, and our other overseas deployments. Realistically, then, the maximum number of troops available for use in Iraq is probably pretty close to the number we have now: 300,000 rotated annually, for a presence of about 150,000 at any given time.

The only way to appreciably increase this is to raise the Army's end strength by several divisions, and this is exactly what Kagan and Sullivan think Rumsfeld has been too stubborn about opposing. But as they acknowledge, doing this would take a couple of years — and as they don't acknowledge, it would have made the war politically impossible. The invasion of Iraq almost certainly would never have happened if Rumsfeld had told Congress in 2002 that he wanted them to approve three or four (or more) new divisions in preparation for a war in 2004 or 2005."

I agree with most of what Kevin is saying except for this "if Rumsfeld had told Congress in 2002 that he wanted them to approve three or four (or more) new divisions in preparation for a war in 2004 or 2005" That sentence is predicated on Rumsfeld asking to increase the army's size. As this article suggests, we are currently increasing the Army's size without congressional approval.

"Top Pentagon officials say the Army will pay for a temporary increase in troop levels through emergency supplemental funds in fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2005... Historically, troop level increases are planned and funded with congressional approval through regular appropriations. But last week, the Army's top uniformed official announced an increase of about 30,000 soldiers over the next four years using emergency authorities granted to the administration, in an effort to lessen the burden on soldiers on protracted deployment in Iraq."

My point, that many of the criticisms of troop levels are predicated on the Idea that the US Army HAS NOT increased since the War on Terrorism began. I would not be surprised is the US army is Two divisions larger today, than it was on September 10th 2001.

Semper Fi

Marine sniper credited with longest confirmed kill in Iraq


"Sgt. Herbert B. Hancock, chief scout sniper, sniper platoon, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, is credited with the longest confirmed kill in Iraq, hitting enemy terrorists from 1,050 yards in Fallujah Nov. 11, 2004. Hancock, a 35-year-old activated reservist and police officer from Bryan, Texas, has been a Marine Corps sniper since 1992. Photo by: Cpl. Paul W. Leicht"

Hat tip to Annika'