Men and Women are different.

Despite many years of protestations from feminists and assorted social scientists, we now find out it is true. The fact of the matter is there have always been things that one gender could do that the other could not. Being different doesn’t necessarily mean lesser or inequal, just different. Thats a good thing.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 5:52 PM EDT

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In a new twist on suicide bombing, the Tamil suicide bomber trying to blow up Sri Lanka’s top general was not only a female but pregnant as well. Apparently the Islamofacists share something with the pro-abort crowd. A distinct lack of respect for the unborn human life.

Anoja Kugenthirasah used her pregnancy to conceal explosives in her successful attempt to kill. In a bottomless pit of atrocities committed in the name of Islam, the Tamil Tigers have achieved a new low. Did the baby get a choice in participating in this jihad? What type of religion condones the killing of the unborn as a tactic in attempting to defeat their enemies? Finally, what type of twisted person would kill their own child, in an attempt at wiping out the opposition? Where was the widespread mention of this reprehensible tactic in the MSM?

Lest anyone try to contrast this with our actions in Iraq or Afghanistan, you might want to consider that our brave fighting men and women are there to ultimately save lives - American and otherwise; especially the children. Where is the condemnation from the “peaceful” muslims who have not “hijacked” the religion? The silence is deafening.

Posted by Biloxi in Radical Islam at 11:31 AM EDT

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On the heels of the proposed “Day without Immigrants” boycott that is proposed for May 1 we now have the “Nothing Gringo” campaign south of the border. If you’re trying to win friends and influence people you may want to go light on polarizing the issue. In the Nothing Gringo proposal, organizers are calling for a boycott of American Stores and products on the same day as their illegal northern bretheren. You can read more in this CNN.Com article.

The plan is shortsighted and hurts some of their allies in the battle for legal guestworker programs in the U.S.

And ironically, the protest targets the U.S. business community, which is one of the strongest supporters of legalization or guest-worker programs.

I say help them, let some of those companies shut down for a week, or maybe a month. Let’s make sure they stay true to their word and keep all our Gringo money away from them lest we offend. Make sure they see not a dime. Let the workers go without pay for that period. I’m sure the Mexican retail industry will pick up the slack and proivide the stores, products and jobs the citizenry needs to get along. Hell, maybe we can divest all financial interest from Mexico altogether.

The Mexican job climate is so great and the burgeoning middle class in Mexico is doing so well that people feel the need to walk through the desert to enter the United States ILLEGALLY. I see no attempt at diplomacy or assimilation here. They want the benefits of American investment but want us to hand over those benefits to them while they pound us over the head with a hammer. I would like to see protesting with the same zeal aimed at the cesspool of an assembly they call a Government in Mexico. Keep pushing guys, at this rate you’ll get even your most ardent supporters to turn their backs on you.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 10:24 PM EDT

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How can the President be so right on the war on terror and so apallingly awful on his domestic policy? This Washington Times article outlines his stance on what is essentially the illegal immigration amnesty bill. My feelings mirror that of our esteemed Webloggin Editor on this one. I am currently fighting the gag reflex as I write. time and again this President feels the way to win is to out Democrat the Democrats. If you consider a bad deal for the American people as winning then President Bush is winning all over.

If the reports are true and the President ends up endorsing a reform bill authored by this group this is what you can expect:

The Hagel-Martinez bill would divide illegal aliens into three groups. Most of those who have been in the country for more than five years would be granted access to citizenship, those here more than two years but less than five years would have to go home first but would also be eligible for citizenship, while those here two years or less would not have a path. Even as Mr. Bush is moving in that direction, the House majority leader yesterday rejected it. “This idea that was being kicked around the Senate about providing some sort of amnesty for those who have been here five years or more, I just think it was a very big mistake,” House Majority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said yesterday. “You are just inviting more people to come.”

Is it somehow less illegal to have broken the law if you did it 5 or more years ago as opposed to 2 years or even less than that? A path to citizenship without enforcement is in fact amnesty Mr. President. The term limited President may not need to consider approval ratings and it is thankful for that because this move is sure to bring him to a new round “unprecedented lows” in the polls. Amnesty is amnesty regardless of what we call it

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 10:35 PM EDT

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Congratulations to Kimberly Oliver, Teacher of the Year. With all the blame and excuses being tossed about on the education front, Ms. Oliver just gets things done. With a virtual United Nations of a student body in her largely low income school, Kimberly was able to help her students boost their scores and get the kids engaged in learning. Money is important but good teaching transcends all. The gem in Ms. Oliver’s program is her belief in gettting the parents involved in the children’s education. While not impossible, it is difficult for a child to achieve academic excellence without a strong support system and the parents are at the very foundation of that system. On four nights each year Oliver invites the parents of her students to the school to share a meal and read to their children. Learning is a family endeavor and Kimberly Oliver encourages the family unit.

Teachers are often given a bad rap because we rarely hear about them until one of them does something wrong. The fact of the matter is the bulk of them are doing most things right. Teachers work hard and to educate our children but they can only go so far without the support of the family. There is nothing more rewarding then watching the light bulb go on when a child who is struggling academically finally gets it. I realize that many teachers lean left and the Teachers Unions are strong advocates for the Democratic Party but I am talking about the people involved. There may be a few Jay Bennishes out there but most will keep their politics to themselves and concentrate on the subject matter. Education is in trouble because of bloated bureaucracies that cannot live within their means. Teachers like Kim Oliver are the cogs that make it all work. Remember to thank your kid’s teachers this year, they rarely hear it and it would be most appreciated. If we entrust them with our children all day they deserve the benefit of the doubt unless they give us reason to think otherwise. Thank you Kimberly Oliver.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 6:24 PM EDT

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Tony Snow is thisclose to joining the Bush administration as Press Secretary. That he is willing to take a huge paycut to deal with people that have an agenda and who repeatedly fling snot and disrespectful invective is amazing. Snow reportedly was offered a role beyond that of a spokesman and will be actively participating in policy debates. This is the TRUE definition of public service, thank you Tony. My faith in mankind is renewed,at least for the moment.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 10:21 PM EDT

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Esteemed Republic visitor and snap commentor Jlanute posited a question of me on e-mail that I think bears elaboration. We can apply this to all the readers of this blog. (all 12 of you). The question to consider is when did you first know you were a conservative? For some there may have been a defining moment, from others it came later, more like a slow conversion and maybe some never really figured out where their political philosophies took root and maybe they evolved into what they are today. The venerable Machete’ of Truth often has said that he originally voted for President Carter during his youth. I guess he would fall under the slow conversion category. (By the way Machete’, you owe us at least 50 push ups for that vote). In my case, I guess I knew before I could define the term. That said it is hard to put a finger on the first time I actually realized I was conservative. I suppose it was in the late 1970’s when I was in high school and my liberal brother was writing a semi-autobiographical story for school. He described the character modeled after me as Joe McCarthy. I wouldn’t exactly describe myself as the former Senator from Wisconsin but it was pause for a little introspection as to what I really believed. My brother has a flair for exaggeration and as an uber-liberal he always had a tendency to demonize anything to the right of Chairman Mao. While many people like to paint George W. Bush’s presidency as the worst ever, they couldn’t be more wrong. My high school years happened to coincide with the actual worst Presidency in my lifetime, that being the one term of James Earl Carter. If I ever needed an illustration of the failed policies of liberalism it was to live through double digit interest rates, economic stagnation and foreign policy weakness. The current situation in Iran can be traced back to President Carter’s failures during the Iranian hostage crisis. It gave legitimacy to the Islamofacists and breathed fire into the movement that led us to where we are today.

Come time for my first Presidential vote (I was not yet 18 during the primary) I had the stark contrast of James Earl Carter and Ronald Wilson Reagan for my Presidential choices. This is when I knew for sure I was a conservative. I proudly punched the ballot for Reagan and never looked back. (yes we used butterfly ballots back then and didn’t need to worry about hanging chads or accidentally voting for John Anderson) We have not had a real conservative President since. Ronald Reagan’s conservatism re-energized the Republican Party and brought the Soviet Union down. A fitting legacy for a great President. Many have tried to claim the mantle but none have been up to the task. That is my story and I would be interested in yours. For the readers of this blog who may not classify themselves as conservative, feel free to let us know where you went wrong so we can have an intervention.

God Bless America.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 9:10 AM EDT

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Tammy Duckworth wishes to represent the people of Illinois’ 6th Congressional district in Washington. She beat two challengers in the democratic primary and now faces off against Republican Peter Roskam in the November general election with hopes of being the people’s choice to replace the retiring Henry Hyde.

She is to be admired for her service to our country. She is an Iraq War veteran and that service cost her both legs. The sad part of the story is that it is because of her injuries (and only because she was injured) that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Snake) and Congressman Rahm Emmanuel (D-Clinton) ever recruited her in the first place. Ms. Duckworth is part of the Democratic Party’s national strategy of recruiting war vets to lend credibility to their party, thus making them appear strong on national security. Unfortunately for rank and file Dems, they cannot keep the John Kerrys, Jack Murthas, Nancy Pelosis and Dick Durbins of the party from bollixing things up with every syllable they utter.

The interesting angle here is that Ms. Duckworth lives in the 8th Congressional district just outside of the one she wishes to represent. To be fair, Major Duckworth lives in a house that is specially suited to her disabilities and it would be hard for her to move without some difficulty. Why not run in the 8th? I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that it is represented by Melissa Bean who happens to be a Democrat. The strategy appears more about increasing Democratic numbers in the house of Representatives than it is about service to the people of any particular district. In Lynn Sweet’s column from the Chicago Sun-Times we also see an emerging pattern of funding for the Duckworth campaign. Tammy Duckworth’s donations largely come from outside the district. I don’t see Duckworth as a carpetbagger as much as I see her being used; which is the intentional strategy of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chaired by Emmanuel . Duckworth’s opponent in the primary, Christine Cegelis, lives in the District and ran a credible campaign against Hyde in the 2004 election. She had grassroots support and her finger on the pulse of the Democratic voters of the district. As such she deserved the support of the national party but unfortunately for Christine she did not fit the cynical strategy of Durbin and company so they pitted Duckworth against her, giving the newcomer an edge in high profile fundraising and exposure by getting her slated on the national Sunday morning news shows and getting high profile pols like Sen. Barack Obama to stump on her behalf. In the end Duckworth was barely able to pull it off, posting a narrow victory of less than 4% over the underfunded Cegelis. Duckworth is a big girl and this may or may not work for her but the party that really gets shorted with this tactic is the people of the 6th District.

Considering that Tammy Duckworth needed to go outside her own district to run, (though it is legal) and she cannot fund her campaign with donors from within the District, where can the people of the 6th District expect to find the loyalties of their Congressman placed should she win? Will they be with the people of the District and in consideration of their best interests? Or will they lie with the California and New York campaign donors, Rahm Emmanuel, Dick Durbin and the out of touch National Party?

Duckworth spokesman Billy Weinberg, citing her focus on Medicare drug benefits as an example, said the question “is not the ZIP codes of where the money comes from, but the values you are going to fight for.”

What if the values of the folks in the 6th aren’t those of Senator Durbin, or the Asian-American community in California where she will be campaigning soon? Representative Government cannot work when the representatives are out of touch with the very people on whose behalf they purport to speak. The system is completely out of sync when the process is reversed and national interests throw their weight (and money) behind a candidate who they think will serve their own selfish interests without any consideration of the people at the local level. The House of Representives should be made up of people from each state and individual district working for the people of said district in an attempt to form a national policy that is a compromise and consensus between all. By the people for the people. Not the dictates of those in Washington who grow increasingly more out of touch with the common folk each day. Tammy Duckworth served her country bravely and with valor. If elected to Congress we can only hope she continues that trend but allowing herself to be used as the poster child for all that is wrong with national politics is a poor start indeed. We can only hope this tactic fails. The voters of the 6th district deserve local representation by a candidate who knows their district, interests and needs and the only candidate who currently fits that profile is Peter Roskam. I will forever respect Tammy Duckworth for her brave service to our country and will never forget her sacrifice; discouragingly she seems to have forgotten what principles she was fighting for in the first place. Instead we get the distorted version, circa 2006.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Politics at 8:23 PM EDT

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At what point did politics become a hereditary post that was to be passed on from generation to generation? In some not so suprising developments yesterday we were informed that Cook County Board President and patronage kingpin John Stroger was showing no change in his condition after a serious stroke and that his son Todd (Alderman 8th Ward) was being touted as his replacement on the Democratic ticket for the fall election.

Cook County, home of Bill Lipinski who “retired”suddenly aftert the 2004 primary and installed his son on the Democratic slate, assuring his election to Congress. Cook County, Home of Lisa Madigan, Daniel Hynes, and the Daley Family.

People complain when this happens in the private sector yet ignore the fact that private companies are free to promote as they wish using their own money. In politics it is the PEOPLE’S money yet we rarely hear a peep. In this case John Stroger received 52% of the Democratic vote in the primary. His opponent Forrest Claypool garnered a fair amount of votes and loyalty as well yet they jump right over him and onto an obscure alderman as his replacement. The younger Stroger wouldn’t even be an Alderman without his Dad.

Voter tolerance for shenanigans will never cease to amaze me.

Posted by Biloxi in Chicago, Illinois Politics at 11:30 PM EDT

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The State of Illinois is well known for its incestuous politics and rampant corruption. Yesterday’s conviction of former Governor George Ryan just brought it all the way home. Ryan operated in a manner that would make Huey Long blush, spending taxpayer money to enrich his friends and family at the same time he was taking cash “gifts” from the custodial staff in the Capitol building at Christmas. His denials of selling licenses for bribes, (or donations) as many a pol would view them, fell decidedly flat under revelations that the investigation into the killing of the six Willis children was quashed on the orders of his Inspector General Dean Bauer.

While there may be seperate political parties in Illinois the statewide offices and leadership positions have always required cooperation. Lots of help from their “friends” so to speak. The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass coined the perfect term for the political structure in Illinois when he first used the term “the combine” to describe it. It is from this culture that we have arrived at the current sorry state of politics in Illinois. This Christian Science Monitor article posits the question of whether or not the State Republican Party can recover from this post Ryan mess or will they continue the infighting, malaise and self-destructive habit of running liberals for office because they can “win”. (See Judy Baar Topinka)

The indication is that the jury said they will not tolerate corruption anymore as the standard operating procedure, but will the people of Illinois make a similar statement? The current indications are that they would not. Given a clear choice of candidates who had a real chance; Illinois Republicans chose Judy Bar Topinka. The one candidate who is the least conservative. A woman who backed Democrats against her own party at times in the past. Ms. Topinka has the clearest ties to the combine and is the surest path towards continuing business as usual in the state. The Democrats, still giddy from the realization they have control of the Statehouse for the first time in 30 years have agreed to bring back Rod Blagojevich for re-election. The Governor has his own John Kass moniker,”The Unreformer” because of his own penchant to take part in the pay to play culture that is Illinois politics. In spite of dire fiscal conditions Blagojevich has maintained the status quo on poltical appointees, government waste and politcal grandstanding.

When there has been opportunity to elect reformers such as Glenn Poshard, Paul Vallas, Ron Gidwitz, or Steve Rauschenburger the people always seem to fall short in the real change column. When we had a true reformer in the U.S. Senate we allowed the combine to cut him off at the knees for a politcal rookie with skeletons in his closet, ultimately leading to the election of the annointed Barack Obama who has been canonized pre-mortem.

If we do not expect…no, demand more from our politicians we can expect a continuation of the wretched, inefficent and wasteful government we have witnessed to date. The first step would be, when given an option…use it. Voting for the substandard because of their party, or the idea that they are electable over a prinicpled candidate with true ideas is a travesty and a betrayal of the gift of freedom and represenative government bestowed upon us by our forbears.

Many people voted for George Ryan in a close race because he was a Republican, in spite of some decidedly non-traditional views. Many voted for him because they wanted to believe their government was good and the statement by then U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar that Ryan was not the focus of an investigation, that he couldn’t possibly be involved in the burgeoning scandal. We get what we want, but in the future we need to want more and we need to believe the truth instead of what we choose to see. It is for this reason, I can’t and won’t vote for Judy Baar Topinka, not as the lesser of two evils and not for Republican unity. Rod Blagojevich is not an option either. I want a choice and if it isn’t in 2006 I will wait for 2010. Support the ticket, the Republican party has some important races and good candiates out there, just leave the top spot blank. We need to expect more, demand more, and take the politicians to task when they don’t deliver. Maybe it’s idealism that is unrealistic but I refuse to support those who no longer represent us. Ask for responsible government and don’t let up until the parties provide it. For our state, our families and our sanity.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Politics at 9:23 PM EDT

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