GOVERNOR ROMNEY – WE MUST DEFEAT GROUPS LIKE HEZBOLLAH

"Governor Romney believes that bloodthirsty terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas have smothered the progress of the people and nations where they have built their networks, Lebanon serving as an example. These terror organizations cannot and should not be allowed to gain an advantage with the citizenry in Muslim nations just because they mask their terror agenda with an offering of some vital services. America can make great progress and provide more stability by creating partnerships with moderate Muslim governments to perfect the institutions of democracy and showcase the wonders and benefits of American democracy, such as our healthcare technology, educational institutions and free market commerce.

"By working with moderate Muslims to break down and defeat terror organizations like Hezbollah militarily, we can then turn to a new 'Marshall Plan' approach that strengthens the foundations of freedom and prosperity in burgeoning Middle East democracies."

- Romney Press Secretary Kevin Madden

FACT: Governor Romney Has A Long Record Of Denouncing Hezbollah Has A Terrorist Organization We Must Defeat:

Governor Romney Believes Hezbollah Is A "Bloodthirsty" Terrorist Organization. "Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told ABC News that the former Massachusetts governor views Hezbollah as a 'bloodthirsty' terrorist organization which has 'smothered' the progress of the people and nations where it has built its network, 'Lebanon serving as an example.'" (Teddy Davis and Matt Stuart, "Romney: U.S. Can Learn From Hezbollah," ABC News, 7/29/07)

Governor Romney Has Criticized Democrats For Failing To Recognize The Broader Jihadist Threat That Includes Hezbollah. "In his planned remarks at Yeshiva, a 7,000-student research university rooted in the traditions of Jewish law and life, Romney chides former President Carter for suggesting a security fence in Israel prevents peace in the Middle East. … 'What Jimmy Carter fails to understand is what so many fail to understand: Whether it is Hamas or Hezbollah or al Qaeda, there is an overarching goal among the violent jihadists that transcends borders and boundaries,' Romney says." (Glen Johnson, "Romney Favors Ambassador To Deter Nukes," The Associated Press, 4/26/07)

In Israel, Governor Romney Called On Arab States To Halt Financial And Weapon Flows To Groups Like Hezbollah. GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "[Arab states] should support Iraq's nascent government, they can help America's focus on Iran by quickly turning down the temperature of the Arab-Israeli conflict, stopping the financial and weapons flows to Hamas and Hezbollah, thawing relations with Israel, and telling the Palestinians they must drop terror and recognize Israel's right to exist." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference, Herzliya, Israel, 1/23/07)

FACT: In 2006, Governor Romney Ordered State Agencies To Not Support The Harvard Visit Of The Former Iranian President:

Ordering State Agencies To Not Support The Visit Of Former Iranian President Khatami, Governor Romney Cited, In Part, His Praise For Hezbollah. "Governor Mitt Romney today ordered all Massachusetts state government agencies to decline support, if asked, for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's September 10 visit to the Boston area, where he is scheduled to speak at Harvard University. … Romney cited a litany of hateful actions by Khatami, including his support for violent jihadist activities: … In the recent conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border, Khatami described the terrorist group Hezbollah as a 'shining sun that illuminates and warms the hearts of all Muslims and supporters of freedom in the world.'" (Office Of Governor Mitt Romney, "Romney Denounces Khatami Visit To Harvard," Press Release, 9/5/06)

· Governor Romney: "Well, what I say is that on that September 10th and September 11th, on the fifth anniversary of a extraordinary tragedy in America, you don't welcome a person to Harvard with open arms who has preached the destruction of Israel, who has developed nuclear technology, contrary to what he had said, who has jailed dissident students in his country, who has praised Hezbollah." (Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," 9/6/06)

FACT: Governor Romney Believes The United States Can Better Use The Instruments Of Its Civilian Power To Defeat Groups Like Hezbollah:

Governor Romney Says America Must Do A Better Job Of Using All Its Civilian Instruments To Defeat Hezbollah's Efforts In Southern Lebanon To Win Hearts And Minds. GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Our non-military resources enjoy no such jointness, no such clear leadership, no such clear lines of authority and responsibility. Too often we struggle to integrate our military and civilian instruments of national power into coherent, timely and effective operations. When facing the need to strengthen the democratic underpinnings of a country like Lebanon, our education, health, banking, energy, commerce, law enforcement and diplomatic resources are in separate bureaucracies, all under separate leadership, all protecting their own powers and their own prerogatives. So while we watched, Hezbollah brought healthcare and schools to the Lebanese. Guess who the people followed when conflict ensued? The same thing happened with Hamas and the Palestinians." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks AT The George Bush Presidential Library, College Station, TX, 4/10/07)

· Governor Romney: "The wonders of America – like our healthcare technology – can be powerful tools to promote the foundations of liberty. It is time that we apply these American wonders to make the world, and in turn to make America, a safer, freer, and more prosperous place." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks AT The George Bush Presidential Library, College Station, TX, 4/10/07)

· Click Here To Read Governor Romney's Full Speech At The George Bush Presidential Library: http://www.mittromney.com/News/Speeches/Remarks_George_Bush_Library_Center

FACT: This Attack On Governor Romney Is Being Pushed By A Partisan Democrat Organization:

The National Jewish Democratic Council Is Misconstruing Governor Romney's Words To Launch A Negative Partisan Attack. "Yesterday, in an article titled 'Mitt Romney cited Hezbollah's social network as a model for U.S. diplomacy,' the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported on recent comments by GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Hezbollah's 'kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world …' Today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) strongly criticized Mitt Romney for his praise of Hezbollah and released the following statement from Executive Director Ira N. Forman…" (National Jewish Democratic Council, "Statement From NJDC On Mitt Romney's Comments That America Should Use Hezbollah As A Model," Press Release, 8/2/07)

Mike Shear

Washington post reporter creating a story, not reporting on the story:

"So what do you think? What would you say to Romney, if he were… when he… when he walks in… he's going to be here…."

Then they cut, cut, cut… why don't they release the video in it's entirety? Agenda journalism at it's finest…

Video: Mike Shear / The Washington Post

Editor: Jonathan Forsythe / washingtonpost.com

 

From T&T

The source of that Oregon campaign money

The people who want to be our next president reported a couple of weeks ago on their campaign hauls through June 30, and the surprise winner in Oregon (surprising to me, at least) was Republican Mitt Romney, who pulled in nearly a third of a million dollars from the Beaver state.

The most surprising thing, however, was not just that Romney pulled in the most money; the real surprise was that he had 56 percent more than runner-up John Edwards, and almost as much as Edwards and Hillary Clinton combined ($326,610 for Romney vs. $208,447 for Edwards and $126,888 for Clinton). Also surprising was the fact that the Republicans, despite being out-raised nationwide by 50 percent, slightly out-did the Democrats in Oregon.

So that got me wondering where Romney's Oregon money is coming from. And just for good measure, I looked at Edwards' money as well.

(I should note that, while I got all this information from the cool New York Times database , my numbers may be slightly different than those of the Times because of errors I found in the Times' database. For instance, the Times listed some California donors under an Oregon Zip code. Also, when I refer to a "donor," that could mean multiple donations from the same person. If Joe Smith made five different donations of $100 each, I would count that as one donor contributing $500.)

One of the first things I found interesting was that Romney pulled in more money from Multnomah County than did Edwards -- almost 20 percent more. Of course, the Democrats as a whole did what you'd expect in Multnomah County: they raised 36 percent more for their candidates than did the Republicans. Still, considering Multnomah County is home to 2.4 registered Democrats for every registered Republican, this remains notable.

Another interesting -- though predictable -- aspect was the source of the money. Virtually all of Edwards' money came from west of the Cascades, while Romney's cash was more scattered around the state.

Also, if you look at the percentage of the haul that came from each county, and compare that to each county's percentage of the state population, very few counties donated proportionately. For Edwards, only Multnomah, Clackamas and Clatsop counties gave more than their population percentage. For Romney, Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Deschutes and Umatilla exceeded their populations. (It would be interesting to do some sort of comparison to per capita income, but -- truth be told -- I've already put in too much effort on this project.)

One of the things that became glaringly obvious was the number of big donors in each camp. As should be obvious by comparing the number of donors to the total haul, the typical Edwards donor was making smaller contributions than the typical Romney donor.

There are certainly plenty of examples of large donations to the Edwards camp -- among them:

• $7,400 from David & Christine Vernier of Portland;
  
• $4,600 from Mark and Sheri Bocci of Lake Oswego;
• $3,100 from State Rep. Mitch Greenlick and his wife Harriet.
• $2,800 from Terri Naito, a policy advisor to Multnomah County Commissioner Lisa Naito;
• $2,300 from Columbia Sportswear's Peter Bragdon, the former chief of staff to Gov. Ted Kulongoski;
• $2,300 from Portland developer Homer Williams;
• $1,656 from Mandate Media's Kari Chisholm (or, as the Times' database calls it, "Madnate Media"); and,
  
• $1,000 from Lynn Lundquist, the former Republican (!) Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.

But a typical example is Lorre Lewis of North Bend, who made three separate donations of $20 each, plus another for $19.53. Or Priscilla Oien of Tualatin, who made 10 separate donations of $100 each.

Romney, meanwhile, was supported by a variety of business, legal and investment heavyweights, including:

• Rod Wendt of Jeld-Wen, who combined with his wife to give $4,600;
• Kevin Mannix, who gave the same amount with his wife;
• Peter & Julie Stott of Crown Pacific, $4,600;
• Tim & Mary Boyle of Columbia Sportswear, $4,600;
• Frederick & Gail Jubitz, $4,600
• Ron Saxton of Ater Wynne, who gave $2,100 (his wife Lynne gave another $500 through the Christie School);
• H. Gerald Bidwell, $2,000; and,
• Richard Reiten, the retired Northwest Natural exec, $1,500.

I know it takes money to run a campaign, but I think this feeds into an achilles heel of the Republicans: the perception that the GOP is controlled by big-money interests. Should Fred Thompson decide to get into the race, however, I think you'll find that many of his supporters will be more similar to the $80 Edwards supporter I mentioned above.
Keep Mitt up in those polls now above  fred thompson and ahead of John Edwards.

The Wall Street Journal Shills For Turkey – Yet Again

The lede in this Wall Street Journal editorial about Turkey's tumultuous elections – and the threat of yet another military coup (1960, 1971, 1980, 1997) – absurdly describes the EU-wanna be this way: "The Muslim world's liveliest democracy has long been a work in progress, but the stakes just got a lot higher … Turkey's future as a pluralistic, free society is on the line."

Since Turkey is as democratic, pluralistic and free as any Muslim country can ever be (which is to say, not very) let's deconstruct this nonsense:

† Democracy: Democracies do not have to worry about military coups. 'Nuff said.

† Pluralistic: Turkey is 99.8 percent Muslim; Turks who convert to Christianity are routinely prosecuted and jailed for "insulting Islam" (Turks are apparently so insecure they get insulted at the drop of a fez). ... Three Christian employees of a bible publishing company (two of them converts from Islam) were savagely murdered by a group of Islamist students in April (according to one as yet uncorroborated report The Stiletto has seen, they were disemboweled, castrated and beheaded). ... Since January, three Catholic priests have been murdered.

† Free society: The Turkish parliament is moving to block Web sites that insult Kemal Ataturk (for instance, by suggesting he is homosexual). ... More than 60 fiction and nonfiction writers have been prosecuted for "insulting Turkishness" (typically by acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as settled history) under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. ... Just as in any totalitarian regime, all Turkish schoolchildren – including those of Armenian descent whose ancestors were murdered by Ottoman Turks – are required to recite " The Turkish Oath" in school swearing allegiance to the cult of Ataturk, and proclaiming their happiness at being Turks. ... Nationalists have infiltrated all levels of government – the police , the judiciary, municipal governments – and enabled the high-profile assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink (second item, The Daily Blade, February 5, 2007). ... Turkish operatives have carried out an international campaign of intimidation and harassment against a Turkish historian who has written several books about the Armenian Genocide (third item, The Daily Blade , March 7, 2007).

Turkey's tiny Christian population is not living in a democratic, pluralistic and free society. These Turkish citizens are living in fear of their lives. But don't expect to read about any of this in The Wall Street Journal, which must use Armenian Genocide denial as a litmus test when hiring editorial and opinion writers (third item, The Daily Blade, March 2, 2007).

From T&T

Hello Mike:

Here is a larger list.

In HIM

T&T

Adopt a Platoon
www.adoptaplatoon.org
Adopt a Platoon has several ongoing projects to ensure that no soldier overseas walks away from mail call empty-handed.

AnySoldier
www.anysoldier.com
Any Soldier is a non-profit organization that helps people send care packages to members of the armed services in Iraq.

Appreciate Our Troops
www.appreciateourtroops.org
Purchase a Support Our Troops mug and a free personalized mug will be given to a current or former service member.

Blue Star Mothers
www.bluestarmothers.org
The Blue Star Mothers was founded by service members' moms during World War II. Any mother with a son or daughter in the military can join.

Books For Soldiers
www.booksforsoldiers.com/
Help the troops escape boredom by donating some books. You can also donate DVDs and CDs requested by soldiers.

Camp Doha
www.campdoha.org/
Camp Doha provides valuable information for those about to deploy, their friends and families and anyone who wants to support the troops.

Cell Phones for Soldiers
www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/pages/1/index.htm
Donated cell phones are recycled and turned into cash. The cash is used to purchase calling cards for soldiers in Iraq.

Defend America
www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html
Thank any service member stationed throughout the U.S. and the world with an e-mail.

Fisher House
www.fisherhouse.org
The Fisher House Foundation donates comfort homes, built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one during hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

Freedom Calls
www.freedomcalls.org
The Freedom Calls Foundation is helping families videoconference with their loved ones in Iraq. You can donate money to help keep this project going.

Groceries for Families
www.commissaries.com/certificheck
The men and women who lay down their lives for us are terribly underpaid. Help a family by purchasing gift certificates to the commissary.

Homes for Our Troops
www.homesforourtroops.org
Homes for Our Troops assists injured veterans and their immediate families by building new or adapting existing homes with handicapped accessibility.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
www.intrepidmuseum.org/pages/intrepidfoundation
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund provides grants to the families of servicemen and women who died in Iraq. You can donate online, through mail or by calling a toll-free number.

Military Moms
www.militarymoms.net
This site provides support to all of the moms out there who has a son or daughter in the military.

MarineParents
www.marineparents.com
MarineParents is a place for parents of Marines to meet up. You'll find advice, support and information.

Operation: A Bit of Home
www.operationabitofhome.com
Operation: A Bit of Home supports over 150 different soldiers per day by providing necessary and hard-to-get toiletries.

Operation Air Conditioner
www.operationac.com
Operation Air Conditioner provides not only air conditioners but space heaters (the desert is cold in the winter) for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Operation Dear Abby
anyservicemember.navy.mil
The U.S. Navy and Dear Abby have teamed up. Their site allows you to send e-mail messages of support to service members.

Operation Give
www.operationgive.org
Operation Give provides toys, clothing and school supplies primarily to the children of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Operation Gratitude
www.opgratitude.com
Operation Gratitude provides a way for you to show your respect and appreciation for the troops. It sends care packages and letters to troops stationed overseas.

Operation Hero Miles
www.heromiles.org
You can donate your unused frequent flier miles to help soldiers travel on emergency leave. They are also used to help families fly to hospitalized soldiers.

Operation Interdependence
www.oidelivers.org
Operation Interdependence supplies care packages to deployed soldiers. You can help out by providing goods, coordinating efforts or donating funds.

Operation Iraqi Children
www.operationiraqichildren.org
Many soldiers are rebuilding schools in Iraq and scrounging around for school supplies. Help by donating a school supplies kit.

Operation Uplink
www.operationuplink.org
Donate money to Operation Uplink. The money is used to purchase phone cards so servicemen and women can call home.

Packages From Home
www.packagesfromhome.org
Packages From Home sends personal care and comfort items to U.S. troops deployed overseas. Find out how to donate time, money or items to this non-profit organization.

Soldiers' Angels
www.soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php
Become some soldier's angel by adopting a service member.

Treats for Troops
www.treatsfortroops.com
Treats for Troops helps get you provide packages to your loved ones overseas. If you don't know anyone, the Foster-A-Soldier Program matches you with a registered soldier by branch of service, home state, gender, or birthday - or you can choose to sponsor a group of soldiers.

US Central Command
www.centcom.mil
Find out what the Coalition is doing. U.S. Central Command features up-to-date information on Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

USO Cares
www.usocares.org
You can sponsor care packages provided by the USO with a $25 donation.

Voice from Home
voicesfromhome.org/home.html
Voices From Home allows military members and their families and friends to send and receive immediate voice e-mail messages in remote locations around the world.

Obama and the sit-down with the dictators (toon)

Obama and the sit-down with the dictators (toon)