the things you believe you're seeing...

Or so the battling stories proport to indicate. First the Washington Post and Bob Woodward's carefully worded column; Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq By Bob Woodward Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 28, 2006; A01 Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don't think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration. In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney -- Ford's White House chief of staff -- and then-Defense Secre...

Boy those dems are good! Sales of New Homes Post Gain in November Dec 27 10:14 AM US/Eastern By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON Sales of new homes rose in November while the backlog of unsold homes fell for a fourth straight month, providing hope that the serious slump in housing could be ending. Sales of new single-family homes rose by 3.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.047 million units, reflecting solid sales increases in every region of the country except the South. The increase was better than had been expected and offered hope that the steep slide in housing may be starting to bottom out as builders, using a wide array of incentives, begin to make a dent in the record level of unsold homes. The 3.4 percent rebound in sales last month was the third increase in the past four months. It helped to lift the median price for a new home to $251,700, an increase of 3.2 percent from a year ago. The median price is the point where half the hom...

...and a safe and Happy New Year!

Remember when the Dems were so outraged by the cost of the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies? This is from January 20, 2005; No expense spared at inauguration By Kevin Anderson BBC News website, Washington With an estimated price tag of $40m, the three-day celebration that is President Bush's second inauguration will be the most expensive ever. The lavish dinners, parties and fireworks began on Tuesday and will continue through his swearing-in on Thursday, followed by a parade and nine official inaugural balls. The band Fuel perform at a pre-inauguration concert hosted by the president's daughters Concerts and balls began on Tuesday The cost will be paid by individual and corporate donations, while the city of Washington is being asked to pay for an estimated $17m in security costs. Some have criticised the expense, questioning the propriety of a flashy celebration as US troops are dying in Iraq and South Asia still recovers from last month's deadly tsunami. The overt c...

City of Detroit has decided the hell with the voters, we won't do it! Detroit: Race ban won't change its rules Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News DETROIT -- The state's largest city has no immediate plans to stop giving favor to businesses owned by minorities and women, despite the state ban on racial and gender preferences that begins Saturday. Detroit gives extra points to minority- and female-owned companies when assessing bids for city contracts. Those efforts to encourage diversity will continue beyond Saturday, said Matt Allen, a spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The city will not be violating the state law, Allen said Thursday, because city officials believe affirmative action is a federal issue, not a state one. "The mayor believes this will eventually be settled in federal court, where it belongs and where it will be clarified," Allen said. "He believes the states cannot just opt out." On the eve of Proposal 2's implementation, Detroit jo...

Now the once supportive Raleigh Nuisance & Disturber wants Nifong off the Duke Lacrosse case; Why the D.A. should be off the case By Joseph Kennedy CHAPEL HILL - Whether the defendants in the Duke lacrosse case are guilty or innocent, Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong should disqualify himself, or be disqualified, from the case. On Friday, Nifong's own witness essentially accused him of breaking the law. An actual conflict of interest now exists between Nifong's need to defend himself against possible charges of misconduct and his obligation to prosecute the case fairly and effectively. In court Friday, the head of a lab that Nifong retained to analyze DNA samples testified that he and Nifong intentionally decided to exclude from the expert's report the fact that DNA analyzed from the clothes and body of the accuser did not belong to any of the defendants but came instead from unidentified males. N.C. General Statute 15A-903 requires that a prosecution expert provid...

So now Joe Wilson doesn't want to testify as a defense witness in the Scooter Libby trial. He said that Libby is trying to harrass him. Oh my goodness, what a wimp! Wilson Challenges Subpoena in CIA Case The Associated Press Wednesday, December 20, 2006; 10:18 PM WASHINGTON -- Former ambassador Joseph Wilson asked a federal judge Wednesday not to force him to testify in the CIA leak case and accused former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of trying to harass him on the witness stand. Libby, who faces perjury and obstruction charges, subpoenaed Wilson as a defense witness this month. Libby's attorney, William Jeffress, said in court Tuesday that was a precautionary move and he did not expect to put Wilson on the stand. Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding Wilson's wife, outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame and Wilson have sued Libby and other Bush administration officials, accusing them of plott...

See how skillfully Hillary avoids answering the only intelligent and challenging question asked of her during her appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell Show, I mean "The View"; Behar: "Last time you were here, I asked you if you were sorry that you didn't vote against the Iraq war. Do you remember that?" Clinton: "I do remember that." Behar: "How do you feel about it now?" Clinton: "Well, I, you know, I have said repeatedly that, you know, if we had known then, there wouldn't have been a vote, what we know now. The problem is we’ve got to figure out what to do going forward. It, it really, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s such a serious challenge to us and part of the problem is that I think the comprehensiveness of the need for a strategy is something that I don't get a feel that the President and his advisors are really looking at. So I'm hoping that they will, you know, really follow the lead of what the Democrats have been say...

I thought these were jobs that Americans didn't want to do? Calling John McCain. Loss for one is another's gain Applicants line up to fill jobs left empty by Swift plant raid By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News December 15, 2006 GREELEY - The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday. Among them was Derrick Stegall, who carefully filled out paperwork he hoped would get him an interview and eventually land him a job as a slaughterer. Two of his friends had been taken away by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and he felt compelled to fill their rubber boots. "Luckily, they had no wives or family they left behind. But it was still sad. They left their apartments filled with all their stuff. I took two dogs one of them had. The other guy had a cat I gave to my sister," he said. Greg Bonifacio heard about the...

From NRO: He was for a surge, before he was against it: FOR : Reid backs temporary rise in troops in Iraq ( Reuters , December 17, 2006) AGAINST : “Frankly, I don't believe that more troops is the answer for Iraq.” ((Blog post , December 19, 2006)  

However after closer inspection its not all that clear that the President actually said it, he was just quoting what Gen Peter Pace said, here'e the exact quote from the Washington Post; Bush told The Washington Post in Wednesday’s editions that “you know, I think an interesting construct that Gen. Pace uses is, ‘We’re not winning, we’re not losing.’ ” So does that mean Bush thinks that? Maybe, but maybe not. However some context would be appreciated and also how about including the "we're not losing" comment as well. I know that doesn't jive with the media agenda.

Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News; "Laura Bush has been treated for skin cancer, and today she and others in the administration were defending her decision to try to keep that story out of the press.” Unbelievable! So because Laura Bush decided that she did not want to publicize the fact that she had a cancerous tumor removed, Katie feels dissed. Too damn bad! It's called privacy! Ever hear of that? No of course not, you in the press feel that it is the obligation of everyone to inform you first and foremost of every single event in one's life. So Katie, what ailements have you been treated for lately? Feel free to lead off your newcast with a list. Here's an example of the female brigade of the WH press corp going nutty over the news that they were not informed of this personal and private issue immediately.

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette! You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do. Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Maybe they should rename the show "The Apology." First Rosie insults the Chinese and apologizes, then she calls Kelly Ripa homophobic which prompted Ripa to call in and smack Rosie down, she apologized again. Now Joy Behar calls Rumsfeld "Hilter-like" and does not get the audience reaction she expected. Of course she equated their reaction with putting Rumsfeld on the cover of Time when what they were really reacting to was her idiotic comparison. Isn't this getting a little ridicules? I mean, when Hitler is constantly used as a comparison to current political figures it diminishes just how evil Hitler actually was. It also highlights how tremendously stupid, arrogant and ignorant today's Hollywood elites are.

Hillary Clinton Says She Wouldn't Have Voted For Iraq War December 18, 2006 4:02 PM ABC News' David Chalian Reports: As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to assess a possible presidential candidacy and the contours of a Democratic nomination fight, she has taken another step away from her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq by saying that she "wouldn't have voted that way" if she knew everything she knows now.

The question is shouldn't he have known better? Democrats leave Bono disappointed Anti-poverty activist gets no promise of funds By STEVE TETREAULT and MOLLY BALL REVIEW-JOURNAL Meetings in Washington last Thursday between rock star Bono and Democrats, including Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada, yielded a nice photo-op but not much else, according to Bono. Bono, the U2 frontman and anti-poverty activist, was on Capitol Hill to seek assurances that $1 billion in planned U.S. spending to fight AIDS and malaria in Africa would not be lost if Congress freezes agency budgets in the coming year. Bono said he also was seeking to close a "commitment gap" between what President Bush has requested for anti-poverty efforts and what Congress has agreed to spend in the past. After meetings with incoming Senate Majority Leader Reid, House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, Bono said he came away empty-handed. " I'm alar...

The AP, doing its usual thorough job of reporting, fails to even mention in passing the current controversy surrounding Jimmy Carter and his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. In case you get your news from the AP, Carter has been accused of stealing maps created by forme Amb. Dennis Ross, using them in his book and then relabeling them in a misleading fashion. Behold; Carter Nixes Debate With Outspoken Prof Dec 15 2:42 PM US/Eastern Former President Carter turned down a request to debate Alan Dershowitz about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the outspoken Harvard law professor "knows nothing about the situation." Carter, author of a new book advocating "peace not apartheid" in the region, said he will not visit Brandeis University to discuss the book because the university requested he debate Dershowitz. "I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz," Carter said in Friday's Boston Globe. "There is no need ....

Oh my, brain surgery. Lets hope and pray that Sen Johnson pulls through. If anyone has heard the conference call when the Senator became disoriented and then later collapsed in his office, it is a very scary thing. Brings it all back home. Thoughts and prayers. Sen. Johnson Undergoes Surgery for Stroke-Like Symptoms Thursday, December 14, 2006 AP Sen. Tim Johnson was admitted to a D.C. hospital Thursday for a possible stroke. WASHINGTON — South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson is in critical condition Thursday after undergoing brain surgery for stroke-like symptoms at George Washington University Hospital. Details of the surgery were not distributed by the hospital, except that it began Wednesday night and lasted past midnight.

Dubai-Based Company Sells U.S. Port Businesses By HEATHER TIMMONS Published: December 11, 2006 LONDON, Dec. 11 — Terminal operations at six American seaports were sold today by the Middle Eastern company that briefly controlled them, closing a controversial chapter in American security and foreign policy. The company, DP World — based in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates — said today that it had agreed to sell all its United States holdings, including the 6 terminal operations, cargo-handling businesses at 16 American ports and the passenger-ship terminal in New York City, to a subsidiary of the American International Group, the giant American insurance company. The six terminal operations include the ports of New York, Newark, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Tampa and New Orleans. DP World, which is owned by the Dubai government, acquired the leases and operating contracts for the six ports in February when it bought a British port and shipping company, Peninsular and Oriental Holding...

Democrats Knew No Prosecution Of Foley Likely And he is still a creep and its a good thing he is out of Congress! However the media can congratulate themselves for successfully hiding the fact that the Democrats knew just as much (maybe more) about Foley as the Republican leadership and they allowed the Democrates to exploit it to their political advantage. After all, its all about protecting the children. Isn't it?

I like it, thats what it is! From the Washington Times ; The 'Iraq Surrender Group' FRANK J. GAFFNEY JR. By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. December 5, 2006 Tomorrow, an unelected, unaccountable and substantially unqualified commission will formally report what hasn't already been leaked about its recommendations with respect to the conflict in Iraq. The title of the commission is the Iraq Study Group (ISG). Given the nature of its contribution, a better name would be the "Iraq Surrender Group." Led by former Republican Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, the ISG's members have reportedly decided that the United States must withdraw its forces from Iraq, that we must start doing so in substantial numbers by 2008 and that we have to open negotiations with Iran and its wholly owned subsidiary, Syria. An early indication of the way in which this bipartisan diktat will be received in official Washington can be seen in the vacuous r...

Just days before the Iraq Study Group releases its top-secret report, President George Bush today ordered the Pentagon to preemptively redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq to “neutral neighboring countries including Iran and Syria.” “I’ve said that I won’t order our troops to make a graceful exit from Iraq,” said Mr. Bush, “But I never ruled out making a graceful entrance into Iran and Syria where I expect our partners in peace to welcome us with open and raised arms.” The order surprised many, coming as it does on the heels of news that the Pentagon has discovered “smoking gun” evidence that terrorists in Iraq use weapons shipped from Iranian factories to kill U.S. troops and others. But Mr. Bush said the Iraq Study Group, Kofi Annan and other Democrats have convinced him that engagement with Iran and Syria is crucial to finding a “holistic solution” to the Iraq situation. Nancy, Harry and Murtha should be very happy!

Students attending Columbia University's journalism school were caughting cheating on an exam. An ethics exam. A take home ethics exam. A take home, pass/fail, ethics exam that consisted of two questions. Columbia University officials are lowering the boom on some graduate journalism students suspected of cheating on, of all things, an ethics exam. The J-schoolers' alleged lapse on the final was reported yesterday by Radar Online. The exam in question consisted of two essay questions to be completed in 90 minutes any time during a 36-hour period. Students who took the test early were instructed to avoid discussing the questions with those planning to take it later, but the warning was ignored. One honorable young scholar got wind of what happened and blew the whistle, sources said. Vice Dean David Klatell told students in an e-mail that there had been a "serious problem" with the final and ordered them to attend a special session of the class "Critical Issues in ...

Ethics reform, yeah thats the ticket... Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is under investigation by the FBI. And he’s set to assume a top post which would put him in control of the FBI’s budget. Neat trick, eh? The FBI’s probing Mollohan for possible violations of the law arising from his sprawling network of favors and money which connects him to good friends via questionable charities, alarmingly successful real estate ventures, and hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarked funds. The investigation appears to be active and ongoing. We’re told that the Feds continue to gather information on the guy. Yet the Democrats look poised to make Mollohan the chairman of the panel which controls the purse strings for the entire Justice Department – including the FBI. Harry Reid said yesterday that the Dems top 3 priorities are raising the minimum wage, stem cell research and ethics reform. Oh brother!

Idea of Rapid Withdrawal From Iraq Seems to Fade By DAVID E. SANGER Published: December 1, 2006 WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 — In the cacophony of competing plans about how to deal with Iraq, one reality now appears clear: despite the Democrats’ victory this month in an election viewed as a referendum on the war, the idea of a rapid American troop withdrawal is fast receding as a viable option. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are signaling that too rapid an American pullout would open the way to all-out civil war. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group has shied away from recommending explicit timelines in favor of a vaguely timed pullback. The report that the panel will deliver to President Bush next week would, at a minimum, leave a force of 70,000 or more troops in the country for a long time to come, to train the Iraqis and to insure against collapse of a desperately weak central government. Even the Democrats, with an eye toward 2008, have dropped talk of a race for the exits, in favor of a brisk strol...