Kitty Litter

 
GOOD-BYE, GIPPER


“Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.”

I loved Ronald Reagan. I’ve written before in Litter how Reagan energized me to register to vote for the very first time in 1980. Ronald Reagan was the epitome of hope and optimism. I recall vividly those dreary “malaise daze” of the Carter years of the 70s. The phony energy crisis and the double-digit inflation. I knew nothing of politics. I didn’t even know what a Democrat or a Republican were. And then I heard Ronald Reagan speak on TV and this Reagan Conservative was born.

Reagan changed America. No longer was the word American an ugly word. We began displaying Old Glory with pride. We were proud to admit we were Americans.


Ronald Reagan was also a man of deep faith who believed in people, who knew that people everywhere harbor the yearning to be free, who understood that it was that desire for freedom which would eventually topple totalitarian governments.

My favorite Reagan story (as best as I can recall):
When Reagan and Gorbachev met, Gorbachev was understandably tense. So, Reagan leaned in towards him and said he had heard a story about him and wondered if it was true.

Reagan: It happened one day while you were traveling in your car. You were in the back seat drinking Russian vodka and ordering your driver to exceed the speed limit. Your driver said he couldn’t do that since it was against the law, and he never broke the law, so you ordered him to pull over and stop the car. At that point you changed places with him: he sat in the back seat while you drove him.

You drove very fast, whizzing by a police car. The police chased you and ordered you to stop, which you did. A policeman spoke with you and returned to his partner in their car without issuing you a ticket. When his partner asked why he hadn’t given the driver a ticket, the rattled policeman said he didn’t dare. “I don’t know who was in the back of that car, but it must be somebody very important because Gorbachev was his driver!”

Yes, it’s a variant of an old joke, but it was what broke the ice between the two men. Reagan was the catalyst in tearing down that wall, and the Soviets, yearning to be free, took it from there.

Our prayers are with his devoted wife, Nancy, and his loved ones. May they now find some peace. We will all miss him.

 
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM?



If you’re going to rediscover Texas, y’all better hop to it, because Houston could be the terrorists’ US grade A prime target. This article is an excellent primer on terrorist tactics.


Al Qaeda likely has a number of sleeper cells still embedded in the United States, and logic dictates that Houston, Texas, is high on their target list.
Logic dictates that Washington, New York, Dallas, Houston or Austin, Texas, could be targeted in an attack that quite possibly would involve a "dirty bomb."
Continuing with this line of reasoning, Houston appears to be the most likely target.
…
Although Stratfor believes that strikes could be carried out against multiple targets of opportunity, certain factors -- including time and al Qaeda's targeting criteria -- lead us to conclude that Houston, Texas, is near the top of the list. Not only is it home to much of the nation's oil infrastructure, which carries significant economic implications, but it also is a city of 5 million people -- and the home of former President George H.W. Bush. A strike here would lend a personal nature to the attack that would send a clear message across the desk of President George W. Bush.
In our view, the strike would be sophisticated and spectacular. It likely would involve either a dirty bomb deployed within the city, or a conventional attack against oil infrastructure, carried out on the scale of Sept. 11.

Thanks, LoanCat! And try not to worry.

 
GUN OWNERS & SECOND AMENDMENT TYPES



C.O. sent the following notice to me, which I’m passing on to y’all. By the way, I’m an NRA member.

CNN is trying to do a job on gun owners. They are doing a quick poll asking if the assault weapons ban should be lifted or extended. Since mostly liberals support CNN, the poll is showing a huge loss to our position. So, get this out to everyone you know ASAP to impact the poll. It takes about 30 seconds to link over and vote. Do it right away. The poll wont stay up long. And distribute right away to your friends.

We really need some help on this poll. So far we are losing almost 3 to 1. I think everyone is aware how much mileage the folks at CNN are going to try and get out of this if in fact the results show the majority of people want the AWB extended. Please take a minute to go to the site by clicking this link and cast your vote.

 
STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS



MoveOn.org’s concept was launched on 9-18-98 as an online petition to "Censure President Clinton and Move On to Pressing Issues Facing the Nation." The name soon became the Dems’ nanner-nanner-na-ner taunting of the Repubs to “move on,” that Clinton was the president and there wasn’t anything we could do about that. So, “move on” already! Isn’t it ironic that Loony-Tunes Algore, of all failed candidates, should be standing at a MoveOn.org podium still embittered and seething over the 200 election.

Gore Lashes Out Again at Bush Administration
Al Gore, continuing his stinging criticism of the Bush administration, denounced the war in Iraqand deplored the downturn in the U.S. economy.
…
Gore also spent a good part of his 40-minute speech deploring the downturn in the U.S. economy since he and Clinton left office

 
DÉJÀ VU


“The story of a rebel who took on Mike.”

Well, well, well. Guess who is getting a taste of his own medicine? Couldn't happen to a more deserving (you fill in the blank).

Moore gets a dose of his own
Twin Cities filmmaker Mike Wilson's upcoming "Michael Moore Hates America" details his unsuccessful attempts to interview Moore, the director who won an Oscar two years ago for "Bowling for Columbine." Moore's earlier film, "Roger and Me," detailed his own failed attempts to interview General Motors honcho Roger Smith.
…
Wilson decided to go ahead with the [documentary], conducting dozens of interviews. None of them with Moore, despite "at least 50" attempts. Moore did not return Pioneer Press phone calls seeking comment for this story.

Mike Wilson's website: MichaelMooreHatesAmerica.com
Dear Mike,
Just in case you visit this page, I want to let you know we’ve been faxing, writing, emailing and calling your agent Ari Emanuel, your media people, your production company and you to request an interview with you—to date, nobody has called back. I’d really like to get your side of the story—seriously, no tricks, no bait-and-switch! We just want to sit down and hear why you do what you do. If you’re interested, see the contact page. Otherwise, you might end up looking like Roger Smith (you know, that famous, rich guy who avoided that poor but passionate guy with a camera and editing suite). I think we know how it turned out for him…

 
I'M BAAAAACK!

Well, kinda. I’m still here, not necessarily healthy, but I am progressing. Hopefully, I’ll be blogging throughout the day. A little bit here and a little bit there. I’ve got oodles of e-mails to go through, and I’ve got to catch up on the news. It seems longer than just two days. I wanted you to know that I’m back and to check in later. If I do nothing else right now, I’ve GOT to go to the store to buy cat food. The cats may be pretty darn old, but they’re still capable of plotting my demise. They can open the cupboard and see it’s bare; they’ve got that look in their eyes.

Thanks to everyone who sent their best wishes.


In the meantime, Gayle sent me the following link to a wickedly wry column entitled, An Oozing Of Gray Sludge. QUOTE: I love the media. They remind me of a man who bangs on his thumb with a hammer and wonders why it hurts.
It’s written by Fred at FredOnEverything, and his other columns ain’t too shabby, either.

“GOT ANYTHING TO EAT IN THERE?”




To feed the bears, just click on the purple button. (It’s free.)

 


I’m waylaid today with a wicked cold/bronchitis. I literally coughed most of the night. With pillows and blankets and one cat on my lap, I was propped up on the couch coughing and watching TV all night long. Well, nearly the entire night. I think I fell asleep around 4:00 a.m. (up by 6:00 a.m.). We watched Nick at Nite: an hour of Cosby, an hour of Roseanne and an hour of Cheers. Then I switched to Fox News. I sucked on so much hard candy that now the roof of my mouth feels permanently deformed. I’m still coughing, but not as badly, but my stomach is rebelling against the sugar overload from all that hard candy. So I won’t be posting today.

In the meantime, don’t forget Kerry Haters. Pat always has great posts.

 
THE AP FILE



CrushKerry.com has an update and an ever-growing list of all things Alex Polier.

Alex Polier’s Coming Out Party. Now that she's back in the news, we thought we’d share with you our fun Alex Polier portfolio. For what it’s worth, we don’t believe her denial for a minute.

 
SURF CITY FACTOID



The movie “The Day After Tomorrow” (see my SURF CITY post below) was based on a book by Whitley Strieber, who claims he was warned of what is going to happen “by aliens.” HA HA HA !!! It is a funny movie. So, I’ll repeat: See this movie and laugh your butt off just to irritate Algore and his enviro-mentals!

 
AND PUT ON A HAPPY FACE


Ben Stein tells you why.

Happy Bush Country
By Ben Stein
Despite the setbacks in Iraq, despite the long slow pullout from the recession that began in 2000, there is a happy mood in the country -- we'll get through whatever the problems are now, things will be better tomorrow, and for right now, we'll all laugh about it together or maybe cry about it, but together, and the fact that we're together will make it better.
I don't want to paint with too broad a brush. There are pockets of constant complaining. The big cities of the east and west coasts, especially among people who make their living be complaining, are not so happy as North Idaho. Whole large swaths of the population who rationalize their own failings by thinking of themselves as victims, especially in big cities and heavy coffee drinking centers, have their own clubs. Those brotherhoods specialize in pessimism and anger as they spend the money they have inherited or receive as allowances from family, state, or university. The malcontents live on their frustration and envy of the people who are actually out there accomplishing things. That envy rises like the steam from the coffee and lattes they are endlessly drinking. The discontented survey the scene of those who are actually in the arena doing. Then they react with predictable jealousy and scorn.
…
But these people are a minority.

 
TAKE A DEEP BREATH


“When it comes to Iraq, the president's critics need some perspective.”

When the Iron Curtain was finally torn down in 1989, someone cautioned that a country can go from a democracy to a dictatorship literally over night, but to go from a dictatorship to a democracy required upwards of a generation. Don’t expect things to be better simply because the wall came down, they warned; in fact, expect things to get worse first. And things did. Gradually, however, conditions did get better, one step at a time. It’s important to keep that lesson in mind with Iraq. President Bush has cautioned all along that the road for Iraq would be long and very bumpy, that the closer Iraq was to the rock-solid June 30th deadline, the bumpier the road.

Saddam Is From Mars. Is Kerry From Venus?
BY CLAUDIA ROSETT
The need was to introduce into the Middle East the revolutionary idea (in theory and practice) that a tyrant could fall and be replaced by something better. Setting this in motion was a risk; not to do it would have been a greater risk. And although it is beyond the power of any of us to predict with perfect accuracy all outcomes, there has been a force set in motion in Iraq that may yet, given time, bring the Middle East into better alignment--if not with the stars, then at least with the Free World

 
ROBERTO’S BUZZ



I was maneuvering through Kerry Haters, reading the comments, and came across one left by “roberto,” who has a blog of his own called DynamoBuzz. Being a curious Kitty I surfed on over to check it out and discovered a comfy little niche of a primarily like-minded soul. Although we don’t share the same appreciation for metal music and Frank Zappa (must be a guy thing), he did list “Slap Shot” as one of his favorite movies, which scored major points with me.
Check out these two Buzz bits:

John Kerry and "The Intern"

Less Sex = Fat Teenagers

 
SURF CITY



Nurse G and I saw “The Day After Tomorrow” late Tuesday afternoon. For a comedy, it’s right up there with National Lampoon’s “Vacation,” except instead of Randy Quaid it stars his brother Dennis. The fact that Dennis played it seriously made it even funnier. We figured he must have spent hours repeating some of the $2-college words so he wouldn’t fumble them.

The theater tittered with laughter all the way through, especially at some of the most inopportune times. Like the LA reporter who was on camera reporting on the four tornadoes coming his way and was smacked into the hereafter by a flying vehicle. G and I couldn’t stop laughing, all the while dreaming up parodies of the movie. (Don’t you just hate it when people talk all the way through a movie?)

If Algore and his enviro-mentals honestly thought people would take this hocum seriously, they truly are delusional. Ticking off each and every implausibility would be a waste of my time and valuable bandwidth. Besides, it would spoil it for the rest of you, because I honestly do recommend “The Day After Tomorrow” as this summer’s great disaster flick. Go with the understanding that they try to savage Bush and Cheney and fail miserably. Even their caricatures are a hoot! Go and laugh your butts off; it will drive Algore crazy.

 
F-U!



KERRY CRASHES
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry was briefed by his campaign staff before Saturday's World War II memorial event last week, and they recommended that he not play up his presence at what was supposed to be a nonpartisan event.
But Kerry ignored the suggestions and insisted that his people be in full campaign mode for his appearance, which was the first time he shared the limelight with the President George Bush in such a public setting.
…
"It was unseemly," says a major fundraiser for the memorial who was present on the dais with the president, his father, and other dignitaries. "The president and the White House went out of their way to make sure that the people this day was intended for didn't lose the spotlight. Then Kerry shows up with his film cameras and veterans groups and puts people out. It just didn't play well, as far as I'm concerned."

Commander in Contradiction
Leave it to the incessant drumbeat of pro-Kerry propaganda, otherwise known as the "news cycle," to make the impossible seem possible. Witness, for example, the amazing transformation of the Massachusetts senator who spent two decades slashing defense spending and slandering American veterans into...Commander Kerry, military devotee and soldier's best friend.
…
His chronic contradictions notwithstanding, it should be manifestly clear were the senator stands on the military: he is genuinely committed to shortchanging our armed forces.

AND, to read how John F***ING Kerry really did flip off a veteran over the weekend at the War Memorial, read Kerry 'Flips Off' Vietnam Vet at Kerry Haters.

 
HELP FEED US; IT'S FREE





Just click the purple button.

 
SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY



Saudis 'brokered deal allowing terrorists to flee death compound'
Key points
• Saudi security forces alleged to have let terrorists escape
• Three suspects being hunted after siege ends
• World oil prices may be affected by events
Key quote
"Our main priority was the hostages. And those guys who ran away, we know how to find them." - Saudi security official

THE Saudi Arabian security forces were yesterday accused of negotiating with terrorists after a team of suspected al-Qaeda militants escaped at the end of a 25-hour siege that left 22 people dead.
As a massive manhunt for the three suspects got under way, claims emerged that the men had won their freedom in exchange for not harming more hostages.
…
A senior British diplomatic source in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, said reports of a deal were "entirely" plausible, although he could not confirm them. "The last thing the Saudis would want is a lot of dead westerners. It could be perfectly feasible," he said.

 
INTERACTIVE MAP FUN




Introducing the OpinionJournal Electoral College Calculator.
Click here and a window will pop up with this nifty interactive map.
…
Go to the calculator and up pops a map showing each party's base. Republicans (red) have 22 states--much of the South, the Great Plains and the Rockies, plus Alaska and Indiana--worth 190 electoral votes. Democrats (blue) have 11 states--a Northeastern cluster, plus California, Hawaii and Illinois--and the District of Columbia, worth 168 votes. That leaves 17 battleground states, which we've colored a neutral yellow. Click on a state to cycle through the colors--yellow, red, blue, yellow again--and the electoral-vote total at the bottom of the window is automatically updated. A check mark appears when a party exceeds the 270 votes needed to win.
We figured the Republican base consists of the states George W. Bush won by a margin of at least 7%, plus Tennessee, where Bush's 3.6% margin was surely closer than it would have been were it not for Al Gore's connections to the state. The Democratic base, likewise, consists of those states in which Mr. Gore won by more than 7%.
Of course, part of the fun of prognosticating is that little can be taken for granted.

 


Kitty

 
WE HEARD YOU WERE PACKIN' TUNA





Just click the purple button; it's free. Thanks!

 
REAL AMERICANS BACK BUSH


President Bush (news - web sites), left, greets Artie Muller, president of Rolling Thunder, and singer Nancy Sinatra upon their arrival at the South Portico of the White House Sunday, May 30, 2004. The leadership of Rolling Thunder, a motorcycling group which supports veterans, is backing President Bush's re-election. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Boots made for backin' Bush
Nancy Sinatra may wear boots made for walking, but she rode to the White House yesterday on the back of a motorcycle.
The daughter of Frank Sinatra was part of a delegation of Rolling Thunder officials and others who met President Bush near the South Portico of the White House.


Hundreds of motorcycles arrive at Arlington National Cemetery as part of a 'Rolling Thunder' ceremony for Vietnam Veterans on Saturday, May 29, 2004 in Arlington, Va. The groups leaders will meet with President Bush on Sunday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

 
OHMYGOD!



Did you ever get soooo drunk that you … ?!? You’ve gotta read it to believe it.

I DID...WHAT?

 
JOKE



Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Algore were in an airplane that crashed. They're up in heaven, and God's sitting on the great white throne. God addresses Algore first.
"Algore, what do you believe in?"
Algore replies, "Well, I believe that the combustion engine is evil and that we need to save the world from CFCs and that if any more freon is used, the whole earth will become a greenhouse and we'll all die."
God thinks for a second and says "Okay, I can live with that. Come and sit at my left."
God then addresses Bill. "Bill, what do you believe in?"
Bill replies, "Well, I believe in power to the people. I think people should be able to make their own choices about things and that no one should ever be able to tell someone else what to do. I also believe in feeling people's pain."
God thinks for a second and says "Okay, that sounds good. Come and sit at my right."
God then address Hillary. "Hillary, what do you believe in?"
"I believe you're in my chair."

Thanks, BLUE!

 
WE MUST NEVER BE DETERRED


Allan Pinkerton of the secret service, President Lincoln, and Major General John McClernand, 1862

Several years ago Nurse G and I visited Gettysburg and toured the battlefields. It was late June and the normal humidity level was, for me, absolutely unbearable. I thought about the Civil War soldiers in their stifling woolen uniforms and wondered how they ever managed. As we visited monuments and museums, I wondered how they ever lived. Hundreds of thousands didn’t.

Recalling a time when setbacks didn't deter us
BY MARK STEYN
You think Iraq's a quagmire? Lincoln's ''new birth of freedom'' bogged down into a centurylong quagmire of segregation, denial of civil rights, lynchings. Does that mean the Civil War wasn't worth fighting? That, as Al Gore and other excitable types would say, Abe W. Lincoln lied to us?
…
But that's the difference between then and now: the loss of proportion. They had victims galore back in 1863, but they weren't a victim culture. They had a lot of crummy decisions and bureaucratic screwups worth re-examining, but they weren't a nation that prioritized retroactive pseudo-legalistic self-flagellating vaudeville over all else. They had hellish setbacks but they didn't lose sight of the forest in order to obsess week after week on one tiny twig of one weedy little tree.
There is something not just ridiculous but unbecoming about a hyperpower 300 million strong whose elites -- from the deranged former vice president down -- want the outcome of a war, and the fate of a nation, to hinge on one freaky jailhouse; elites who are willing to pay any price, bear any burden, as long as it's pain-free, squeaky clean and over in a week. The sheer silliness dishonors the memory of all those we're supposed to be remembering this Memorial Day.
Playing by Gore-Kennedy rules, the Union would have lost the Civil War, the rebels the Revolutionary War, and the colonists the French and Indian Wars. There would, in other words, be no America.

 
60 YEARS AGO


FDR photo:rangerring.com

I’ll admit that history was not my favorite subject. In fact it was a downright snooze. I used to watch Newt Gingrich on C-SPAN filled with his passion of history and realized that if I had had Newt as my history teacher, instead of “un-inspired” teachers, I would be an expert today. But, alas, I am woefully ignorant on the subject. So maybe I am reviewing history through rose-colored glasses (plus WWII was before my time), but I do recall that FDR was elected to 4 terms, partly because we were at war. In 1944,“The Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey at the their convention in Chicago. For the first time the Republican platform totally abandoned its traditional opposition to involvement in foreign treaties. It supported the United States participation in post war organizations. With a war going on Dewey did not attack the policies of Roosevelt.” I heard about the victory gardens and the metal drives, and I’ve seen the can-do spirit posters. We pulled together as one nation to defeat our common enemy.

Sixty years later finds the media and Kerry in an incestuous relationship, throwing their massive combined weight into subverting Bush’s war effort in order to elect Kerry. Sixty years ago FDR was a hero; this year Michael Moore received a 20-minute standing O for a vile, hate-filled film packed with lies intended to smear and defeat Bush. No wonder the Pope prays for our souls.