ConservaChick

NYT Treason, flag burning defeat, Murtha and his opponent, Spirit of America needs help, FairTax/tax reform, and Rush's brush with Customs... so much to blog about and so little energy left in this evening. I'll be back tomorrow evening and hope to cover most, if not all, of it! Sometimes I wish I was less interested in the world around me... ;o) naaaah!

Oh man, if you haven't seen this , you haven't heard the true sound of modern Conservatism! The Right Brothers rock and " Bush was Right " is all the proof I needed. Enjoy!! Great big thanks to SlyCon and The Who on Louisville Mojo for bringing this to my attention.

For those of you scoring at home, Mom is now home from the hospital. She was discharged tonight and couldn't be any happier about being home! She's looking good and recovering quickly from surgery. She's a strong woman, no doubt. Our next battle in this war against cancer will be chemotherapy. I believe she is to have six rounds which consist of two separate chemo sessions about six weeks apart. I have been advised by a close friend that this will be a difficult battle indeed. We're ready. I don't think there's anything my Mom can't conquer and she's got plenty of support! For those of you who are local, I have decided tonight that if she melts down over losing her hair, I'm going to do it with her. So, if you see me "wigged out" or bald in a month or so, don't panic. It's for solidarity with my Mom.

Thank you all for the kind and support-filled emails and comments I've received with regard to my Mom's cancer. It was indeed verified today that she has level-three primary peritoneal cancer . Evidently, primary peritoneal cancer is fairly rare, most often it is found to be ovarian cancer. They are very similar in nature and are treated about the same way. The good news is that we learned today that the numerous lymph nodes that were removed during surgery have come back completely clean! That means that the cancer hadn't reached her lymph nodes and is likely not to have traveled very far from it's origin. Good news, indeed. She is still in the hospital and will likely be there until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Her spirits are good; she seems to be very focused on taking one step at a time. The goal at this point is to recover from the extensive surgery and get home. After that, we'll learn more about the chemotherapy she faces and take that one round at a...

...You think being a "proletariat" gives you a right to some cheese with that whine. ...You've named your kids "Government Handouts One" and "Government Handouts Two.” (“Sunshine Cherry Blossom” and “Damn I Was Drunk” would also apply.) ...You've tried to argue that poverty could be abolished if more people used the “Robin Hood” approach. ...You've ever referred to someone as "an evil [insert hateful Conservative/Republican slur here]". (Meanwhile, you get extremely offended if anyone dares to respond in kind or even slightly questions your patriotism.) ...You've ever thought Jesus would approve of “Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay Marriage, Anti-Christian Liberals” using the phrase “WWJD?” ...You support the “right” to kill innocent babies, but oppose the killing of convicted murderers. ...You think Huey Newton would have actually given a damn as to what you say, and would have actually liked your “white ass.” ...The only “sport” you watch is “Wa...

I'm sorry to say I'll be taking a short hiatus from the blog. The general opinion of those in my family who would know such things (doctors in the family) is that my mother is facing peritoneal cancer. I'll know more tomorrow after the biopsy but I've been briefed tonight to expect the worst. I don't feel the desire to focus on anything outside of this right now. As selfish as it sounds, politics and war seem too far away from me at this moment. My family and I believe in the power of prayer. Christian prayer or non-Christian prayer makes no difference to us -- it's the collective power of people sending their wishes for good things for another that makes a huge difference. You see, I believe we all pray to the same God(s) -- in effect, the higher beings that live as a part of all of us; the higher part of ourselves and our fellow human beings, together they make a difference when focused on the same thing. So, even though I'm a Conservative, I'm not too...

Now that the Iraqi forces and our coalition troops have a few days under their collective belts in the security crackdowns happening throughout Iraq, I felt it was time to check in with Omar of Iraq the Model to see how it's going. He's definitely hoping for better things from Forward Together: ... Needless to say, collecting intelligence is of critical importance to the success of the operation; no checkpoint can stop a suicide bomber from inflicting harm once he's on the street. Those must be dealt with before they wear their explosive belts or leave the garage with their explosive-laden cars, and this requires intelligence and a more aggressive tactic than fixed checkpoints. ... Omar's blog is a great education on Iraqi culture, the current state of affairs there, and his hopes for the future. You want unbiased? You got it. Thanks, Omar!

I'm a bit late in posting tonight but I wanted to wish all the Dads out there a very happy Father's Day today! It's a tough job and one day your kids will tell you they're glad you did it. My own father has found himself busier in retirement than I think he was when he was working. He's indulging a lot of his artistic side now and stays very busy with music lessons, a huge aquarium, gardening, woodworking, etc. He says he doesn't know where all the time goes every day. I've always been a lot like my Dad in temperament and interests and I certainly want to be just like him when I retire! Parents are interesting creatures... growing up, you rely on them for almost everything until you reach teenage years in which they suddenly are incapable of making sense of making decisions you agree with. Then one day, you find yourself an adult with lots of experience under your belt and find that you have so much in common with them because they've been there themselv...

Ann's appearance on "The Tonight Show" last night alongside George Carlin was stellar. She presents herself so well; direct and self-assured are two great adjectives for her. She is, without a doubt, a force to be reckoned with! My favorite quote came not from Ann but from George: "I never thought I'd hear myself say this but I've just moved to the right of Ann Coulter," he said as he vacated the guest chair and moved to the couch. I truly think Carlin is more of a Conservative than he'd have everyone believe. He was quiet during her portion of the show and she often referred back to him. I suppose if you're a closet Conservative, it's best to say nothing so as not to be discovered, huh? Russ Vaughn has written a wonderful ode to Ann called " Hallowed Human Shields ." Enjoy!

"It was leadership here at home that gave us strong American influence abroad, and the collapse of imperial Communism. Great nations have responsibilities to lead, and we should always be cautious of those who would lower our profile, because they might just wind up lowering our flag." — Ronald Reagan

I was involved in a conversation today at work that somehow landed on the well-worn subject of taxes. One of my co-workers actually said, "A flat tax would be nice because at least I'd know for sure what I owe every year!" Of course, a huge grin spread across my face because that was all I needed to hear to educate them on the FairTax ! Among the many reasons that motivate me to support the FairTax, Terry at The Right Track just happens to name most of them in his posting today. Seriously, it's time we all got behind this by writing to our representatives in D.C. It's time for a change in the tax mentality in this country!

WHAT THE F**K?! Evidently the Murtha syndrome continues to infect the Liberal media. This cartoon, drawn by celebrity atheist cartoonist Steve Benson, was published in the Arizona Republic newspaper recently. In response, the paper received over 160 letters to the editor. Here are the few that they published online. Pardon me, Mr. Benson, but if you'll extract your head from your ass for a minute there are some salient points your little cartoon has missed: (1) The investigation is still underway and no one has even gone to trial yet; (2) Every American citizen is entitled to be considered "innocent until proven guilty;" and (3) The US Marine Corps has a long and glorious history that includes many thousands of men and women who have served honorably. Even if these few are found to have done something wrong in battle, they are a very few out of the thousands. I shouldn't be shocked at this atrocity; after paging through a few of his cartoons it's evident that t...

I have heard/read waaaay too much from Liberals who claim there are conspiracies that run through the 9/11 attacks and our war against Islamo-fascism. They may be right about the conspiracy part; however, they've got it turned around the wrong way as a distraction -- "Hey, look over there!" Nope. Conservatives know better than to fall for that trick; instead, look right here , folks, because this "pipeline of hatred" is the true conspiracy. This presentation on Concept Wizard is very well done, factual, accurate on most counts, and actually underplays some of the bigger issues. Lefties, we're on to you and your Muslim comrades. Your anti-Semitism is clear to those of us paying attention. We will not be distracted nor will we be tolerant. Thanks very much to my friend Col. Rodger for the link!

I just wanted to add my own HOORAY to the death of al-Zarqawi ! Way to go, coalition troops and Iraqi people!! It's so much more satisfying to hear that he was ratted out by someone in his own "organization" and that the effort was greatly assisted by the Iraqi people and their new security forces. Way to freakin' go!! For historic perspective on his death and the lessons we can learn from it, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and his colleague, Richard Miniter, have written an excellent article for The Weekly Standard. Fascinating reading!

According to information I received today from the PPI (Progressive Policy Institute) Trade Fact of the Week, Syria claims that we all have two homelands! Most of the world's tourism, and tourist money, is European. But tourism seems to be growing fastest in East Asia and the Middle East. The WTO asserts that tourism arrivals are growing fast not only in Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia but also Syria. For its part, the Syrian Ministry of Tourism claims that "every person has two homelands: his own and Syria:" http://www.syriatourism.org/ YIKES!! Uh, no thanks.

*YAWN* For those of us non-Christians who were born on the 13th (pick a month, it doesn't matter), today was just another day of hyped superstition. I know, I know. 6-6-6 is the sign of the Beast and all hell will break loose, yadda, yadda, yadda. Look, I only know one person who had a run of bad luck today. A colleague informed me this morning that he hit a deer on the way to work. Frankly, I'd call that the deer's bad luck but that's just me. Dead deer, banged up front end does not an anti-Christ make. Next time my birthday falls on a Friday, I'll be on the lookout for deer on the way to work, not the anti-Christ. ;-)

I have received email from several ConservaChick readers asking whether the FairTax is a viable idea -- is there strong enough support to make this happen? The answer is YES, YES, YES! The following piece from Ms. Underestimated is an update for those of you who are still Doubting Thomases. Enjoy! It's Still Alive! by Ms.Underestimated Folks, I told you about the good news Congressman John Linder gave us about an impending face-to-face with President Bush about the Fair Tax, and now the word is out! The Gwinnett Daily Post catches us up on this great news : FairTax still kicking 06/04/2006 By: Dave Williams Many political observers were ready to bury U.S. Rep. John Linder’s FairTax bill last fall when President Bush’s tax reform commission gave the back of its hand to the proposed national sales tax. The panel chose to recommend tweaking the current income tax system rather than such a dramatic overhaul of the way the federal government collects the revenue it needs to operate. Bu...

...well, almost. Billy Preston was widely known as the " Fifth Beatle " and was an artist extraordinaire. He may be best remembered by folks my age from the movie, " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ," and 70s musical hits such as "Nothing from Nothing," and "Will it Go 'Round in Circles," and "Outta Space." In my humble opinion, his true genius was in his performances with an amazingly broad range of other artists . He made them all sound even better and he did it quietly and with panache. He died today in Arizona at the young age of 59. He will be sorely missed by this fan of his music. RIP, Billy.

If you think only national politics is intriguing then you haven't spent any time with folks who work on local campaigns! The race for the 3rd Congressional District (here in Louisville) just got more interesting today... yes. hate. i hate them. all of them. i wish we could have a liberal inquisition and do like the spanish, where we would go up to people and say "Are you a Republican?" and then if they said yes, we would kill them. with swords of course, guns would be illegal. This little tidbit brought to you by "Bobby Conn" and the Yarmuth campaign! Read the story from Jefferson Poole at his Bluegrass, Red State blog. Look Liberals, if you don't know how to run your own political campaign, you might consider hiring folks who do, not planting some puerile, hate-filled Democrat on an opponent's campaign as a volunteer. Duh.

I have long admired Peggy Noonan . She was a large part of the eloquence that was Ronald Reagan's voice during his presidency. Although, I must say that I found her "thousand points of light" bit a little...uh... well, bizarre... during Bush 41's term. She has certainly captured the sentiment of many Americans who feel as if their political representatives in D.C. have chosen to appear concerned rather than taking action on the issues that matter to us. A third party with an actual concern for doing what is right for this country and representing her citizens' ideals may be long overdue. Read her thoughts, which are very similar to my own, in this piece . Thanks for bringing this one to my attention, Speed Racer!

Our friend, Russ Vaughn, has obviously had a full pot of coffee going recently. He's been burning up the keyboard and the American Thinker has a few new pieces from him that I think you'll enjoy: Forsaken Honor, Forgotten Shame "Over the past few days a number of questions have emerged which throw serious doubt on the authenticity of Jesse MacBeth’s claims about being a U.S. soldier in Iraq. We have therefore taken our interview with Jesse MacBeth off our website. " -- From the Socialist Alternative website. I'd link you to it but I can't bring myself to copy any URL that has the word "socialist" in it. Sorry. (Note: I inserted the link to Michelle Malkin 's on-going work on this.) Kerry's Catch-22 Now, more than a year and a half after his defeat, aided and abetted by his rear-echelon buddies at the New York Times, Kerry is attempting to refute the charges that many political insiders think cost him the election and constitute the critic...