A Ruthless Foe - by Michael O'Hanlon

An excellent commentary from Michael O'Hanlon published in the Washington Times. He describes the importance of winning this war. Even though he is no fan of the administration or the current tactics, he underscores the necessity for victory.

Another Helping of Post Season, Please!

This melee was not indicative of the series between Nashville and San Jose. The first two games were very physical (not that the other three were not) but skill won out over brawn.

It's Not Guns That Kill People...

....People kill people. I get so disgusted at the propaganda attempts to make the Virginia Tech murders a gun issue. The Washington Times published an AP article whose title is "Killer Got Clips For Gun on eBay". What are they trying to infer? Do they mean he obtained them in an illegal clandestine purchase using eBay as the fence? No. That title is equivalent to saying "Farmer Got Seeds For Crops on eBay". What a ridiculous statement! If it actually had some newsworthy meaning to it, that's one thing. There is nothing there. Nothing. I can buy knives, baseball bats, chains, hammers, crow bars or anything else to kill someone with on eBay. Clips (as they are incorrectlty being called) don't kill people and there is no law against purchasing them. They aren't even dangerous unless you step on one and twist your ankle. Bullets, guns, knives, hand grenades, and any other weapons you can imagine are completely harmless. It takes an individual with bad intentions to use one of those items to kill someone. The attempt is to try and make it sound like it is easy for deranged killers to obtain weapons anywhere they are sold even if that means illegally through shady weapons dealers (like eBay).

This column (H.T. to Bob over at Crazy Politico's Ranting's) has some well researched info regarding the gun purchases of the VT murderer.
Crazy Politico's Rantings: Taking Aim But Missing The Mark
His columns predating the above topic are also well researched and written. I'm always impressed with the depth of information he posts **sigh**. When I grow up I want to be just like....

Oops, sorry I got off track there. Anyhoo, there is a plethora of information and it's all becoming rather overwhelming. I am just getting sick and tired of hearing how guns are bad and they need to be contolled better. There is no more truth than in the cliche' - "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns". If there had been armed security or staff on the gun free (read: slaughterhouse) campus of VT, or any other school in the nation for that matter, there may have been a chance for some law abiding citizen to step up and heroically put a cap in that guy before he committed 32 murders.

I Love Playoff Hockey!

Watch the video
While the old joke may apply here....

I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out

....it certainly shouldn't be the only thing you remember about a hockey game. The San Jose Shark's series battling the Nashville Predator's was a good one. They finished the series in five games avoiding taking it to seven. This gives them a few extra days for the bumps and bruises to heal before they take to battle in the next round against an as yet unknown foe.

The intensity of an already brutal 82 game season pales in comparison to the post season play. A team has to win an absolute minimum of 16 games to earn the Stanley Cup. The odds of that happening are fairly astronomical. That would mean that the competing team would have to sweep each of it's competitor's in their respective best of seven series'.

Virginia Tech Not the Deadliest

Not to deminish the loss or grief at all but I stumbled across a reference to the Bath School Disater while searching for the latest on the Virginia Tech murders. This horrific event makes the Virginia Tech tragedy look like it was carried out by a pre-schooler. This guy went off the deep end long before he committed his crime. He had been preparing for months. This link has an incredible amount of detail regarding the crime. It looks as though Cho had been planning for quite some time as well. He had purchased his guns a month prior to the crime. He certainly did not act spontaneously.

There is some really good up-to-the-minute details and news here

Power, Freedom, War and Presidents

More applicable quotes after perusing The Quotes Page. A leisurely stroll through random authors jump starts my thought process on pertinent subjects.

Nancy Pelosi and her pathetic attempt to wrestle power from the President using the Emergency Spending Bill would be well served reading just a few quotes from Abraham Lincoln.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.

Abraham Lincoln

Of course Pelosi and the Dems don't feel the Iraq war is just so this quote would be meaningless to them. The focus would be on the failure portion of the quote. They believe we cannot win and that we have already failed.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

That quote seems indicative of the anti-war leftists. They have no idea how precious their right to denounce all that is happening on the war stage or how expensive a price was paid. They complain about the mistakes being made and throw in the arm-chair quarterback analysis. Never providing their ideas on how to win, they only tell us how to quit, get out, surrender, run away.

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Notable Quotes and Some Questions Regarding Humor

Perusing The Quotations Page is always an enlightening jaunt. I came across a relevant quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. that really encapsulates the dialogue in the media over the course of the last week in regards to the Don Imus brouhaha.

We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

A distasteful opinion should not be squelched but debated vigorously. A distasteful joke should be ignored and frowned upon, not avenged. Heard any of Chris Rock's stand up comedy? (caution: not for the easily offended) This should have you wondering if Imus' comments didn't receive a bit of over-reaction. Would Al and Jesse pay to go see Chris do his stand-up routine? Could they handle being the butt of one of his jokes? Maybe it's just that Chris Rock is funny and Don Imus isn't? Hopefully a bad sense of humor won't be a criminal offense anytime in the not too distant Orwellian future. One last immortal quote....

Can't we all just get along?
Rodney King

The "Reverend" Al Sharpton

The term "Reverend" should be used loosely. Talk show host Larry Elder has a really good compendium of the "Reverend" Sharpton's hypocrisy, racism, anti-semitism and criminal convictions. For this guy to be leading the charge on crushing Don Imus for a really dumb joke in poor taste just floors me. Granted, Imus said something stupid, but holy cow, Al...you've said and done some really stupid stuff yourself. Just read Mr. Elder's page.

Excellent Fred Thompson Article

Posted over at Redstate.com He talks about President Ahmadinejad of Iran and his successful piracy, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion and humiliation of Great Britain. Somehow the Brit's think they achieved a victory by getting their folks back from the pirates without the use of force. That's all well and good that no one was hurt in the process, but who is paying the penalty for the crime?

,