Quote of the Week

From the blog Discriminations:

Senator Arlen Specter to Senator Russ Feingold, after a shouting match that ended when Senator Feingold left the hearing room:

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I."

How true -- and how sad.

Be careful what you say

The liberal leadership in Washington has been busy trumpeting their "Culture of Corruption" theme - though I haven't seen much aside from Cunningham (who was a true crook) and Abramoff (who was an equal opportunity bagman, serving both sides of the aisle).

AJ Strata has a post about a part of that "Culture" that Pelosi and Reid probably won't be talking about:

A congressman under investigation for bribery was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant whose conversations with the lawmaker also were recorded, according to a court document released Sunday. Agents later found the cash hidden in his freezer.

At one audiotaped meeting, Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., chuckles about writing in code to keep secret what the government contends was his corrupt role in getting his children a cut of a communications company’s deal for work in Africa.

Now today, Jefferson has a news conference and announces that, rather than resigning, he's even more committed to serving his constituents. More like serving himself, if you ask me.

Slimy lawyers getting theirs

I read this post at Captain's Quarters with a great deal of delight.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment alleging fraud, corruption, and kickbacks at one of the most prominent legal firms in the class-action lawsuit industry. Milberg Weiss also has two of its partners under personal indictment for a criminal racketeering conspiracy, and the feds want over $200 million in restitution

Seems that these lawyers had their own stable of plaintiffs willing to sue for just about anything.

Of course, reading this also makes me sad that the US judicial system has degenerated into this sorry state. In some ways, I wish that 5 wise justices would sit on the SCOTUS bench and say "You know....all that Stare Decisis crap had gotten us in a lot of stupid positions. Let's just scrap a bunch of the silly stuff that has sent us down the slippery slope and start over."

They did it with Brown vs Board of Education and some other cases....why not now???

News that you don't get from the MSM

A US Navy warship is being made in New Orleans using steel from the World Trade Center.

A] ship has begun to rise from the ashes of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Bringing together America’s two great calamities of the 21st century, the USS New York is being built in New Orleans with 24 tonnes of steel taken from the collapsed World Trade Centre.

[T]he girders taken from Ground Zero have been treated with a reverence usually accorded to religious relics. After a brief ceremony in 2003, about seven tonnes of steel were melted down and poured into a cast to make the bow section of the ship’s hull.

Some shipworkers say the hairs stood up on the backs of their necks the first time they touched it. Others have postponed their retirement so they can be part of the project.

Hat tip to the crew at Power Line.

Mencia on the military

Go here for a video clip of Carlos Mencia doing a routine on why the US military is so powerful. You'll get a laugh while hearing some real truths.

Thanks to Jay Tea at Wizbang for the story with the link.

A glossary

From the folks at StrangePolitics come a post about the REAL "Liberal" Meanings of Words". Written by Rachel Marsden, it was originally on the Canadian website Canoe.ca.

Some of the gems from the article:

Here's my handy glossary of commonly used leftist terms, and what they really mean:

Social justice: Spreading the misery of socialism equally throughout society.

Balance: Left vs. far-left (e.g., Hillary Clinton debating Ted Kennedy).

Environmentalists: Celebrities who brag about their environmentally friendly hybrid cars while tooling around the world in gas-guzzling private jets. Liberals who can't afford a car also use this label so they don't appear pathetic to friends.

Freedom fighters: Terrorists whose goal is to destroy Western democracy.

Terrorist: George Bush, or anyone who wants to harm "freedom fighters."

Torture: Frat-party activities that occur on foreign soil, in the presence of U.S. military personnel. Murder, rape and violence perpetrated by communist regimes don't count.

And of course, the best is saved for last:

Bush lied: A catch-all that means, "I have no idea how to debate this issue intelligently."

Be sure to read, and save, the whole list.

Undocumented?

Stefan Sharkansky over at Sound Politics has a thought provoking post about the whole issue of "undocumented".

Yesterday, while our government officials and government employee unions were marching in the streets with the "undocumented immigrants", I was filing my quarterly B&O tax returns. And that led me to think: Gee, wouldn't it be nice if I could be an undocumented business owner? Just as the "undocumented workers" opted to avoid the expense and inconvenience of obtaining proper documentation, I too would prefer to avoid the expense and inconvenience of operating as a documented business. But if nobody bothered to get themselves documented, who would pay for all of these wonderful social programs that some in government want to lavish on the undocumented?

I'd like to be "undocumented" every April 15th. I assume that the IRS would be interested in an amnesty for anyone who just didn't go through the trouble of filing a 1040 -- it's not like we are hurting anyone -right?

Now, if someone speaks up and says that not paying taxes is "illegal", I'll ask why it is OK for a Mexican to be called "undocumented" (even though they have violated Title 8, Chapter 12, Subchapter II, Part VIII, § 1325 of the US Code) while my actions would be called "illegal".

Monday's numbers

So, let's assume that a million people marched on Monday (and I'm not sure about that). With an official USA population of 298 million, that means that 99.66% of America DID NOT march in support of those who are here illegally.

Sounds like a mandate to me.